The Truth Will Out Part Four
by dreamsofyesterday1
Summary: Part twenty of the Robyn series. A family lies broken, ripped apart by lies and truths never to be told. Have all the truths been told or are there more lies to be uncovered? Can things be repaired against the odds? Rated T
1. Chapter 1

The Truth Will Out – Part Four

Part Twenty of the Robyn series.

It was so quiet he could almost hear the person in the next room breathing. He didn't know why she was here, why she had to come. She thought he needed her help but he didn't, he didn't need anyone's help. He was fine on his own. From the noises coming from the kitchen he guessed she was making something to eat, he wouldn't eat it though. He wasn't hungry. It had been a long time since he'd been hungry, since he'd been thirsty, since he'd been tired. For days on end he would go without food and sleep, drink was something he'd found it hard to do without. The only times he'd left his chair was to go to the toilet or take a reluctant shower. He was afraid to be gone too long in case the phone rang, in case someone rang to tell him good news, the good news that they had found Robyn.

The clatter of a plate being placed on a table shook him from his thoughts and he looked down at a gigantic piece of cake worthy of his attention. Its mouth watering scent was almost too much for him to resist as he picked up the plate. A fork was placed in his line of sight and he took it. With the fork poised ready to strike he readied himself to fill his stomach but something stopped him. Putting the plate on his lap and the fork on the edge of it he looked up and smiled his thanks to Bessie, she knew just how to cheer him up. Bessie smiled back and motioned that it was fine for him commence shovelling, she could tell how hungry he was even if he couldn't.

A knock on the door arrested her attention and she went over to open it. Standing on the other side was a man she'd never seen before. He wore a uniform but it wasn't a uniform that she recognised and he certainly didn't look to be a police officer or anything of that description. He seemed to be waiting for an invitation to enter but she wasn't sure if she should do that, instead she turned her head and looked at Robbie who had stood up to see what was going on, his cake quite forgotten for the moment.

Walking over to the front door and pushing Bessie gently out of the way Robbie asked, "Who are you?"

"A friend, Mr Rotten. I can't say exactly who I am or where I am from but I can tell you I have news of Robyn."

"Robyn? Is she ok?"

"That remains to be seen. She was found in Toronto but not before things happened, very bad things I'm afraid."

Needing to know more, Robbie opened the door wider and allowed the man to pass through. Something told him that the bad things he was about to hear about were every bit as bad as the man seemed to think they were.

Taking a seat on the sofa, Robbie motioned for the man to sit in his usual place, Bessie sat next to Robbie. She wanted to know what had happened as much as Robbie and wouldn't let anything shift her.

"I guess that I can at least give you a first name," The man began after some thought, "Call me Boris."

"Boris, tell me what happened." Robbie asked needing to know.

"This is all for your ears only, Mr Rotten. If you don't mind, I'd like to suggest that your friend leaves."

"I'd rather have Bessie here, she's a dear friend of the family and Robyn means a lot to her."

Nodding Boris proceeded to say what he had to, "During Robyn's time in Toronto she came into contact with Cain. I believe you know he was there."

Robbie nodded.

"He attacked her and left her for dead in an alleyway. Luckily there were people on hand to help her and she survived, her injuries weren't severe but they could have been had she been left alone for much longer. Soon after Robyn was released from hospital she was taken into the protective care of a Police Detective and from then on was transferred to a secure place at a night club. After a night spent there Cain launched an attack on the city, an attack you must have read about in the newspapers. While everything was thrown into chaos Cain kidnapped Robyn, it was about this time that Kit arrived at the club but, from what we've gathered Cain attacked him. He was found unconscious but suffered very little injury besides that."

"What did Cain do to Robyn?"

"After he took her from the night club he hid her in an old warehouse. That's when the worst part of all of this happened."

"What did he do?" Robbie repeated.

Boris sighed, "He raped her, Mr Rotten."

Robbie's world collapsed around him. He could feel Bessie plant a hand on his shoulder but it did little to help him, he could tell she was as devastated as he was.

Everything seemed to be moving so fast. One minute she was in Toronto, the next she was on her way home. She was scared to go back, there were so many things preying on her mind. Would her friends know about her being Sportacus' daughter? Would they know about what had happened to her in Toronto? Would they be mad that she had run away? What would happen when she came face to face with Robbie for the first time since he'd admitted to her that he wasn't her father?

The time for speculation ended all too soon when the car entered the Crazytown tunnel. It wouldn't be long before they were back in Lazytown, back home. As long bands of light stretched across the car she felt hand grip hers, it was Kit's. Looking at him she tried to smile but there was nothing there. She was too apprehensive to even think of smiling.

"It'll be ok." Kit told her, "I'm here. You're not alone."

Robyn nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. Kit would make things better, he always made things better.

Robbie couldn't come to terms with what he'd been told. It didn't make sense to him and he couldn't accept it.

"Not my Robyn. Not my dear, sweet Robyn." He'd repeated over and over.

All the while Bessie had kept a hand on his shoulder, offering him support. He had tried drawing strength from that support but it did nothing for him, his grief was just too great.

"Where is Robyn now?" Bessie asked needing her own questions answered.

Boris cleared his throat, "At this moment in time she should be close by. Last night she and Kit were removed from Toronto in a secured transport. They're in safe hands and should be back soon."

This news offered Robbie a life line. Rubbing threatening tears from his eyes he pulled himself together. She was coming home. She was alive.

Fifteen minutes later a black Land Rover pulled up outside the house. Its appearance created no small amount of confusion and everyone in town came to see what it was there for, including Robbie and Bessie. No one could see through the heavily tinted windows but they could tell that someone important was inside. They watched with a mix of anxiety and excitement as a driver got out, wearing a uniform similar to Boris', and opened one of the rear passenger doors.

Slowly two people got out, they were people sorely missed in the town and people that everyone was glad to see alive. The first person Robyn sought out when she left the confines of the car was Robbie. Seeing him standing outside the house she hobbled over to him, uncertain of what to say or do. It was as if this was the first time they'd set eyes on each other, as if they were total strangers thrown together by circumstances beyond their control.

With eyes full of unshed tears, Robbie lifted his hand to brush Robyn's cheek but changed his mind and wrapped his arms around her in a solid hug. Relief filled him when she responded by putting her arms around him as well.

"You'll always be my dad." Robyn whispered lifting her lips to Robbie's ear

Robbie's eyes opened wide and elation filled him as he hugged her tighter before closing his eyes against falling tears.

"And you'll always be my daughter." He whispered back before planting a kiss on Robyn's temple.


	2. Chapter 2

The world revolved and revolved again as they clung onto each other, neither wanting to let go. They cried, they laughed, and they felt their own individual wounds open as the last months caught up with them with heart wrenching haste. So much had happened between them and yet they knew that deep down that it wasn't over. There was much for them to talk about but right now they were content to be part of one another in whatever time they had left in their state of contented silence. No one interfered as they finally parted, one more reluctant to do so than the other, and looked at each other. A million words were communicated between them in a single glance, words that only they could hear. One began to open his mouth to say something but a placating finger upon his lips prevented speech and he nodded briefly, understanding. Without a word they both turned and entered the house, their companion didn't follow them as they disappeared behind a closed door.

Feeling better for one thing, Kit took his eyes from where the pair had been standing and turned to his friends. Their eyes asked him silent questions that right now he wasn't prepared to answer, he had questions of his own to ask. Turning to face Elias, he caught the man's eye. It wasn't hard to spot him through the sea of faces before him. He was detached from the group, strumming his fingers on the bonnet of his Land Rover. Elias looked back at him, his face sober, collected, detached. With a silent sigh he moved himself away from his perch and walked over to his addresser, he looked less than impressed at being dragged away from his thoughts.

"Yes?" Elias asked briefly.

"A quiet word in your ear if I may," Kit began standing close to Elias, "What are you doing about Cain? Was he in the hold with Sami and Radboud?"

"Yes, I thought it best to keep you and Robyn in the dark about it, especially Robyn. He'll be dealt with accordingly, if we can find the rest of him."

Kit frowned, "The rest of him? You mean you haven't got all of him?"

"I can't say what was missing but the answer is no. We'll have to launch an investigation."

"Yeah. I don't suppose it matters really, he's dead. I just hope he stays that way."

"Don't worry, there's a very strong chance he will." Elias said reassuringly.

With a brief, nonchalant, look and a ghost of a smile, Kit held out one of his hands. Knowing exactly what was required of him Elias took the proffered hand and shook it. A similarly ghost like smile touched his lips as he nodded sharply before releasing his hand and motioning for Boris to join him as he headed for his vehicle. Both men climbed men, one in the back seat one in the passenger seat while a third man, the driver, fired up the engine. Their work wasn't finished yet, they had to make arrangements for a return journey to their home and funeral arrangements for their friends. Without a look towards the people they had forced out of the way as they began moving, they left. Only a thin trail of smoke remained of them until that too vanished.

Once all outsiders had gone from the town, barring Rico and Alejandro, the crowd returned their attention to Kit. They still longed for answers. Knowing that he had stalled long enough, Kit looked at everyone and waited for their questions to come. A strangely shy looking Stingy stepped forward, his hands clasped tightly in each other's grip. Taking a few more steps he let go of his hands and wrapped his arms around Kit who was a little surprised at first but responded likewise. A few moments passed before Stingy let go and stepped back a step.

"You look like shit." He said with total honesty.

A smile broke out on Kit's face, "Trust me, I feel like it too."

"What happened out there? Is everything ok?"

"It's not for me to say, not yet. I know you all want to know but right now I'd rather that nothing was said. We had a hell of a time and to be honest, I don't want to talk about it. I'll tell all when I'm ready but not before, neither will Robyn. Might I also say that she and Robbie need some space at the moment, I don't know if you lot know what happened before things went nasty but all I can say is, all I want to say is, that something happened and it's something they need to sort out on their own."

Hearing what Kit had said everyone nodded, they understood that something had been going on between Robbie and Robyn before she had disappeared and were ready to give them all the time and space they needed to sort things out. They knew that they would be told everything when the time came.

Doctor Cole tapped his foot impatiently on the floor as he watched Sportacus, and a man he didn't know, walking towards him. His face communicated exactly what he thought of escapees and much more besides. It conveyed disappointment as well as deep seated anger that his patient had put his life at risk by leaving the care he needed at this moment. The fact that he hadn't been listened to as well rested heavily on his countenance and he struggled to stop himself writing out a prescription for eternal bed rest, it was the most he could do to keep his temper in check as he showed his unwilling patient back into his room. Following the two men inside, he closed the door behind him and looked at them with the full force of his mixed feelings.

"What did I tell you?" He asked Sportacus, looking straight in his direction.

Sportacus looked at his feet, "To stay where I was and not to go gallivanting anywhere."

"Good. And what did you do?"

"I left the hospital and ignored what you said. I'm sorry."

Doctor Cole looked at Sportacus over the end of his nose, "Well that's something. Do you know how sorry you could have been if you'd collapsed? Are you aware of the trouble you have caused? Security and police time has been wasted because you decided to take a day trip to Michelangelo knows where! Sorry! I'll give you sorry! The next-"

"Doctor is this really necessary? My son has been through enough and I've returned him safe and sound. I apologise for any inconvenience caused by his premature trip into the town but under the circumstances I see little reason to come down on him this hard, his niece is missing after all." The silent-until-now gentlemen asked in a gentle tone.

"I understand and respect that but his health comes first. Speaking of Robyn, I received a phone call from a gentleman telling me that she and Kit had been found and were being returned home."

Sportacus looked up in surprise, "Is she ok?"

"He wouldn't give me any details. You may have to find out for yourself. I'm sure that she'll pop along when she knows that you're here. Either that or you can call her."

Relief mingled with bitter worry filled Sportacus as he absorbed the news. He knew that no details was a bad thing, as soon as he recovered himself he asked if he could use the nearest telephone.


	3. Chapter 3

It rang and rang and rang but no one answered. Hanging up he tried again but he got the same thing, a dialling tone with no voice on the other end. Frustrated and filled with worry he wanted to leave, to find out what was going on, but something told him that after what had happened between them he was forgetting that it was a strong possibility that she didn't want to talk to him, after what had happened he didn't blame her. In the hope that they would answer the phone he dialled again, still nothing. With an aggravated sigh he hung up for the last time, they weren't going to answer. Sitting back on his pillows with his chin rested on his knees he stared at his feet.

He wanted desperately to fix things but he couldn't do that from here and he couldn't leave here without permission which he knew wouldn't be acquired easily. It was hopeless. The chances of her coming to him were minimal and besides which it was too public a place for them to talk. He remembered how his last attempt at talking with her had gone. He didn't want a repeat of it. No matter what happened this time they would talk, they would get everything out in the open and he would be damned if he let anything or anyone interrupt them, even Lily.

There was another reason for him getting in touch with Lily. He didn't know if Robyn knew that she was back and he wasn't sure if Lily would stay away from her. This thought more than any other made him more desperate to leave, even if it meant his next escape attempt resulting in his being chained to his bed he wouldn't let anything stop him, he had to warn her and protect her as any father would a daughter. Once he was sure she was safe they would talk, he had it all planned out. Taking his chin from his knees he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and was about to stand up when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, looking up he saw his father standing in the doorway.

"Where are you off to now?" His father asked entering the room and placing himself in front of the closed door.

Sportacus was silent for a moment, "The bathroom," he replied hoping that he sounded convincing.

Raising a rather sceptical eyebrow his father replied, "Really? Then you wouldn't mind me accompanying you. Speaking to your doctor, he thinks that you can leave your bed but not without supervision."

Sportacus watched as his father moved away from the door and opened it. With a sweep of his arm he motioned that his son should lead the way. With a reluctant half smile, Sportacus shimmied himself back on his bed and shook his head.

"False alarm. It…it can wait. I'm fine." He stammered.

With a shrug the older man closed the door again and walked over to the windows on the far side of the room. He looked out over everything he could see of the town beyond him and the small dot that was Crazytown, a place he would try very hard to avoid. His brows were knitted in thought as he turned over in his mind the possibilities of what was making his son act so oddly. He was prepared to blame it solely on his attack, there was something more than that affecting him and he was going to find out what.

Instead of returning home like everyone else was doing Trixie stayed where she was and made direct eye contact with Kit. Unlike everyone else she wasn't satisfied with what she'd been told. She knew slightly more than anyone else and didn't want to be kept in the dark, it didn't feel right. When everyone was out of the way she walked over to him hoping that he would tell her more than he had told everyone else but instead he walked away from her. It was obvious that he had meant what he had said about not wanting to talk about what had happened but she wasn't going to give up.

"Kit!" She called as she followed him, "Tell me what happened. I need to know!"

Kit stopped walking and turned around, "You don't need to know just yet. Go home Trixie. Let me be."

"I won't. Robyn's my best friend and I want to know what happened to her. You told me that you needed to speak to Robbie that day when you released Robyn from the safe house, when Robbie called me I took her home but Greta led me away while they were talking. What happened? Tell me if you don't tell anyone else but I have to know."

"He told her that he wasn't her father, Trixie, alright?"

Trixie's face paled in shock, "Oh my god. I never would have thought…is that why she ran away? There's more isn't there?"

"Yes but that's as far as I'm going. I'll not go an inch further so go home and let me get back to mine."

"Not until you tell me what else you know. She looks bad Kit, she looks worse than she did when she came out of the safe house. What happened to her in Toronto? What happened to the both of you? She looks like she's falling apart, Kit, and I want to know why."

Biting his top lip, Kit raised a finger. "No. I'll not say no more."

"Tell me!" Trixie shouted pushing further.

"Alright!" Kit exploded making Trixie jump, "Cain was there. He raped her, alright? He raped her and I wasn't there in time to stop him. That's what happened to her. Now are you satisfied?"

Trixie didn't answer. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled out over her cheeks as the enormity of what had happened to her friend sunk in, cutting her deeply. Rolling his eyes briefly with a sigh Kit walked up to her and hugged her. She returned the hug as she fought to calm herself down. When she had regained control of her usually less volatile emotions she pulled back from Kit and smiled sheepishly at him.

"I'm sorry." She said her tone matching her smile.

Kit shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I could have told you in a gentler way than that but everything's been getting to me recently."

"You had a good reason to snap. I pushed you too far when I should have listened to you. I know that you're under an enormous strain with trying to keep Robyn on track but it's not something you can do entirely on your own. You need someone to help you, Kit. Sure Robbie helps but neither of you can stay strong forever."

Taking on board what Trixie had said Kit nodded. "You're right. When I need help I'll ask for it."

"Good. Now, I better be getting home. I'm hungry and need to fix myself some dinner. Will you be ok here?"

Kit nodded and watched as Trixie left. When she had gone he sat down on the ground and lost himself in his own thoughts.He didn't notice someone watching him from behind a nearby tree.


	4. Chapter 4

It was evening. The sun had begun to sink beneath the horizon. Framed in the light of its orangey hazed path dark clouds drifted along, slowly, unhindered in a journey without end. Many a time he had watched similar clouds making a similar journey against a similar backdrop. Turning away from the window, now, and returning to the present he headed back into the bathroom where he was running the bath.

Robyn was sat on the toilet lid, wrapped in a towel. The bath was for her. Checking the bath, Kit knelt down beside her and kissed her on the cheek. Standing up again he turned both taps off and checked the temperature of the water. After making sure it wasn't too hot, or too cold, he picked Robyn up and lowered her gently into the rippling water. Once she was settled he knelt down beside the bath and ran the back of his hand down her other cheek.

As he looked at her naked body he could still see the scratch marks inflicted on her tender, pale flesh by Cain's sharp fingernails. They stood out angrily against her complexion and there were too many for him to count accurately. She was still bruised in places where he had either struck her or held her too tightly. No matter how he tried he couldn't conceive why anyone would have wanted to hurt her in that way, she had never done anything to anyone. Looking down at her wrist he could see the scar that was left from the cruel beast's first attack on her, like the scar on her cheek it was a scar that would never heal, much like the scars she carried within.

"Look at this hair," He said light heartedly trying to take his thoughts from such things, "If we don't wash it soon it'll crawl right off of your head."

Robyn nodded in response but said nothing.

"While you're here we'll get it washed, ok? It'll make you feel a little better."

Again Robyn nodded.

Getting up, Kit went over to the sink and reached into the cupboard underneath it. It took some rummaging but he soon found a jug to use to help him wet Robyn's hair. Rejoining her by the bath he scooped some water into it before tilting her head back and poured the water over the back of it. Doing this a couple more times until her hair was completely wet he told her to close her eyes and began massaging some shampoo into it. After rinsing it out with clean water from the taps he added some conditioner before rinsing that out as well with more clean water.

He handed Robyn a flannel to wipe her face with while he dried his hands on a towel. Putting the jug back he turned to face her when he heard her say his name.

"Yeah?" He asked closing the cupboard door.

"I don't want to be on my own in here."

Knowing what Robyn meant he walked over to her. Coming to a silent decision he stripped off his shirt, socks and trousers. He kept his underwear on as he stepped into the space she had left for him and sat down. Once he was in safely he pulled her towards him and let her rest with her back against his chest.

"Why have you still got your boxers on?" Robyn asked, puzzled.

"Because I want you to feel safe. I don't want you feeling uncomfortable with me being in here with you. You know I'd never do anything to you but I just want to make sure you know that."

"I do feel safe you, only with you. You and-"

"I know," Kit replied planting a kiss on Robyn's temple, "I know."

Wrapping his arms tighter around her Kit held onto Robyn as he buried his face in her wet hair. They stayed like that until the water became too cold for them to stay in the bath any longer.

Robbie sat in his chair ineffectually trying to rid his mind of the plague that afflicted it. In a flurry of activity thoughts would come and go and then there would be nothing. In these moments of peace he would try to sort through these thoughts hoping to find some resolution to questions that sprung up without an answer. So caught up in the affairs of his mind was he that he was deaf and blind to all around him. He didn't hear Kit coming down the stairs with Robyn held firmly in his arms. It was only when he felt an outside awareness brush his own that he looked up. He noticed Robyn sat on the sofa and Kit standing behind it.

"What are you two up to?" He asked trying to not seem as far away as he felt.

Kit smiled a little, "I'm going out for a walk, and Robyn's staying here. I won't be long, not more than half an hour anyway."

"Ok, while you're out see if the shop is still open. We need a few things but if it's closed we can wait until tomorrow."

Kit nodded and bent over the back of the sofa to kiss Robyn. He turned to leave but temptation caught up with him and he blew a kiss to Robbie who accepted it with a chuckle.

Once the door had closed behind Kit, Robbie looked over at Robyn. Getting up from his chair his sat down beside her. Much to his surprise she didn't attempt to move away from him, she shuffled closer to him and snuggled up to him. It didn't escape him that they were sitting in the same places as they had been when he had confessed his dreaded secret to her. Instead of running away from him now she was doing the exact opposite, it was something he offered no resistance to.

As the sun sunk lower in the sky the light in the room began to recede. Shocked from her evident calm, Robyn looked panicked as darkness began to creep in through the windows. Robbie noticed this and his brow creased in concern until he understood why she was reacting this way. Wrapping an arm around her he leant over and turned on the small lamp standing on an end table at the end of the sofa. As soon as it was turned on and light filled the room once more Robyn settled considerably. It was some time before she was completely calm. She kept looking at the light as if it would turn off by itself plunging her again into the darkness. Into the darkness filled with memories of him, of what he had done.

In order to give Robyn all the possible peace of mind he could give her, Robbie pulled her onto his lap. She didn't resist but seemed puzzled by his actions.

"You're scared of the dark aren't you?" Robbie asked, fixing his eyes on Robyn's.

Robyn nodded, "I am. Every time it gets dark I see him, standing there. Every time I close my eyes he's there. I feel him all around me. It feels like I can't get away from him. That he's around every corner. I'm just so afraid."

"I know what you're going through, believe me I do."

"You do?"

"Yes, because I used to be afraid of the dark too."

It didn't take long for Robyn to realise what Robbie meant. Shifting herself slightly she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. Neither of them noticed Kit standing in the doorway, a tear running down his cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

A sound behind him made him look round. It was the sound of a twig snapping underneath a careless foot. There was nothing there that his carefully observing eyes could perceive. Not willing to let this little occurrence drop he closed the half open door in his hand softly and turned back into the ensuing darkness. Unconsciously he brushed the fallen tear from his cheek as he crept further out into the night keeping his ears and eyes wide open for any sound or sight that would lead him to the unknown he sought. Another sound shattered the stillness. It was much closer than the last. He was heading in the right direction. With the stealth of a thief he entered into the stretch of trees that lined the top edge of the town. Despite the tightness of the spaces between them he managed to move them in hopes of hearing another sound that would finally bring him upon the unknown, it came sooner than he had expected.

"You must be Kit." A sing song voice stated with unhidden confidence behind him.

Kit turned around slowly, "I am. Who are you? Come closer so I can see you."

With a white toothy smile the unknown complied. As soon as they did this their identity was known.

"You're Lily. I hate to say this, sweetheart, but you're meant to be dead."

"Am I?"

"Yeah, you are."

"Then I'm sorry to disappoint you. Fortunately for you it's not something you'll have to suffer with long."

"And why is that?"

Lily smiled once more, "Because I'm going to kill you."

"I'd love to see you try."

"Very well then."

Almost too fast for Kit to perceive Lily ran up to him and dealt him a hard blow across the cheek that almost knocked him to the ground. Steadying himself he grabbed hold of her as she made to lunge at him again and threw her against a nearby tree. He saw her head make contact with it but it did little to stop her turning and hitting him again. Feigning to hit her with one hand he hit her with another, an action that caught her off guard which resulted in her taking a fist to the mouth. She stumbled from the blow before looking at her surprisingly skilled opponent.

"It's rude to hit a lady." She said in between spitting blood from her wounded mouth.

"I know, but you ain't a lady." Kit replied before landing another blow on her which sent her stumbling into another tree.

Refusing to be defeated by anyone despite her minor yet uncomfortable injuries, Lily came at Kit again. This time she managed to punch him once, twice, three times in rapid succession each blow harder than the last. Each hit forced him back.

Defiant to the last Kit stepped back from a fourth punch and wiping the blood from his face shouted, "Ha!" his teeth stained with blood.

Snarling at this display, inflamed by her lack of success thus far, Lily threw herself at her opponent which sent them both sprawling over the ground. They struggled, one getting on top of the other only to be thrown off and climbed on. Hands swatted at each other warding off attacks from fists, teeth or nails.

Throwing Lily off of him Kit made an attempt to pull her along the ground but was prevented by a painful kick to his groin that felled him to his knees. His stomach convulsed and he retched before he felt a foot make contact with his chin, forcing him onto his back. Knowing that he would be in great peril if he didn't ignore his pain and shift himself, he rolled. He rolled just far enough to see a foot come down where his head had once been. Quickly moving himself back onto his knees, then his feet, he stood once more.

Both breathing heavily from their exertions the two combatants circled one another. Their eyes remained completely fixed on the other's, waiting for the slightest vulnerability. As they circled they drew closer and closer until they were almost touching.

This was when Kit saw his moment.

Whirling round to make his body level with Lily's, Kit head butted her, his forehead impacting hardly with hers. For a moment she stared at him, her eyes almost questioning what he had just done, before they closed and she slumped to the ground like a dead weight. He waited for what seemed like an eternity but she didn't get up again. Sucking all of the blood in his mouth up into a great wad he spat it onto the ground next to her before turning and walking away.

He hadn't gotten far out of the trees when he collapsed.

Rolling over onto his stomach he felt it convulse again before he retched a second time, this time a small glob of thick, fresh, blood spilled out of his throat onto the ground. Picking himself up onto his knees he retched again, adding more blood mixed with ruby diluted vomit to the mess before him.

A sudden hand upon his shoulder almost forced him to his feet in surprise but it held him firmly which prevented him moving from his knees. Looking up with bloodshot eyes he saw a friendly face peering at him in extreme concern, a face that he'd not seen before. A weak, sickly, smile creased his lips as he acknowledged the person and their attempt to get him to stand. Lifting his arm he braced it against the person's shoulder as they were doing likewise to him but found it almost impossible to maintain his grip on them as when they stood they were much taller than himself. As if sensing his difficulty the person scooped Kit off his feet and placed him over their shoulder as a fireman would do to someone they were rescuing.

He could feel himself being carried like this for what seemed an age before his rescuer came to a gentle halt. Looking down on the ground he could see yellow glow from what he thought to be house light, he was right as he heard a knocking sound and a door opening.

Bessie looked at Rico, or possibly Alejandro, in complete surprise. He was calling very late and she was about to ask him if there was anything wrong when she saw that he was holding someone over his shoulder.

"My goodness! Who's that?" Bessie asked unable to identify the person from behind.

Rico, or Alejandro, grimaced, "I'm not sure. He was over by the trees and he's not looking too good. Can I bring him inside?"

"Of course-"

"Alejandro." Alejandro interrupted and let Bessie open the door wider before he passed through.

As soon as Alejandro passed her Bessie gasped. Worry filled her as she saw the state that Kit was in. She wasn't the only one to express her surprise as the Mayor entered the room and muttered something under his breath at the sight. They watched as Alejandro, bent over to prevent his head making contact with the ceiling, placed Kit on a chair by the dinner table. The moment he was out of the way the Mayor went over to Kit while Bessie called a doctor.

"What happened, Kit?" The Mayor asked using a towel to daub some of the worst of Kit's numerous cuts.

Kit didn't hear what had been said to him, he slumped over, unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

A constant yet familiar drumming sounded in his head. Every beat made his skull feel like it could crack open at any moment, unfortunately for him, it didn't. Absently lifting a hand to his head he pressed it against his forehead but didn't count on the sudden shot of pain he felt from the action. Changing his mind, he moved his hand down to cover his eyes. The room was much too bright for him to stand. Feeling something tickle him at the back of his mind a need to know where he was he began to sit up and allowed his eyes to open, it was in vain as he closed them again rapidly and let himself fall back against his pillows.

"Oh…God! What did I drink last night? My head feels like a French man's been living in it." Kit moaned clutching the sides of his head with his hands.

"I know that feeling," A voice responded with considerate softness.

Kit opened his eyes again in surprise, "Doc Cole? What in the name of God's pyjamas are you doing here?"

"I'm a Doctor; this is a hospital, hmm?"

"Hospital? Wait, now I remember. Where's Robyn? I've got to find Robyn!"

Seeing that Kit was about to attempt to make an impromptu exit from his bed, Doctor Cole restrained him. He practically had to sit on Kit to prevent him from leaving. Eventually Kit gave over but he gave the doctor a dirty look that would make a whore blush for the man's trouble.

"It's for your own good, Kit." Doctor Cole scorned waggling his finger, "Robyn is fine. She just went to get a drink with Robbie. You, on the other hand, aren't so well. Whoever attacked you burst a blood vessel in your stomach. It wasn't a vital blood vessel nor was it overly serious but it prompted me to take you into surgery."

"What kind of surgery?"

"Just basic keyhole. We were able to cauterise the vessel but if you keep moving about you'll damage it again so stay still."

Kit pulled a face before looking at the doctor again, "How long am I going to be in here?"

"Not long. Three days at the most. It depends on how you progress but aside from your stomach there's nothing else vitally wrong with you. A few bruises and a little swelling but nothing that time won't fix. Needless to say you'll have to rest up a little."

Kit was about to answer when the doctor's beeper sounded, its tone shrill. The doctor nodded a goodbye to him as he proceeded to leave the room as if responding to an emergency that required his attention. Left alone for the moment he pursed his lips as he looked around the room. His eyes wandered from wall to ceiling, from ceiling to wall. It struck him that he'd been conscious for ten minutes if not less and was bored already.

Looking around him again he decided that he would view the fruits of Doctor Cole's surgical labour. He slowly began to peel away the blanket covering him to waist height and grimaced at his all too revealing, and yet convenient for his purpose, bed gown. Cautiously he lifted a corner of it that rested on his thigh and slowly peeled it further and further away from his body. With every centimetre that was exposed a grimace formed on his face and grew larger and larger.

His stomach was a complete mass of bruises, some worse than others. A small piece of gauze covered a wound that he guessed was a result of his surgery. It itched slightly but he knew well enough to leave it alone, scratching it wouldn't do him or his wound any good. Looking further down his body he almost opened his mouth wide in shock as he saw the state of his groin area, it was almost as badly bruised as his stomach and now that he had noticed the damage inflicted to it he found that it was almost as painful. Lifting his eyes and his gown higher he could see that his chest was almost as bad and it took him a few moments to realise that something was missing, his nipple ring had been removed.

Displeased with this revelation he cast his eyes over to a locker that he'd not noticed beside his bed before. He managed to find a door in it that he could reach and searched it for his belongings. He found his nipple ring and his favourite earring in a small box with his wedding ring. That was the first thing he claimed back. Putting the blanket over his sensitive areas in case someone happened to come into his room he hooked his gown under his chin while he fiddled with his nipple ring. He was so caught up in this activity that he didn't see the door open and someone walk in.

He was fully rested, he could feel it. His excursion into the town and subsequent run in with Doctor Cole's temper had done him good. As he yawned he was aware that someone was sitting in the chair beside his bed. Turning his head he opened his eyes and looked at them, he almost fell out of the bed from the shock of seeing them. It took him a while to realise that they were really there and not some figment of his imagination.

"How the mighty have fallen," Robyn said, her tone filled with spite.

Sportacus was dumb for a few moments. The coldness in Robyn's voice was almost unreal.

"We need to talk, Robyn." He replied at last his voice also cold.

"I thought we'd done enough of that."

"No we haven't. We never got a chance to finish talking before I was interrupted, before you vanished. There's more that I have to say."

"Like what? Like how you're sorry? Like how you would have told me sooner if you could risk damaging your 'golden boy' reputation?"

"No," Sportacus paused preparing himself to ride out a storm, "Like how I love you."

Robyn scoffed, "How you love me? If you loved me you wouldn't have waited until then, until that day to tell me."

"I do love you, Robyn. I always have. If I didn't love you I would've let Mr Snail keep you at the orphanage. Do you remember when he tried to take you away? Do you remember how I tried to stop him, to save you? You watched me run after the car when he drove away. When the car was out of my sight it felt as if a piece of me had been ripped away. I never told you this but I cried like a baby. After they found you on the mountains I almost lost you, if the doctors hadn't gotten you back I never would have had a chance to tell you. After all you'd been through it didn't seem right to add more pain to your life. You were happy with me as your uncle. Can you tell me you weren't?"

Tears had begun to bead in Robyn's eyes. She kept her eyes fixed to the floor unable to look at him, at those eyes. The memories that Sportacus had caused to resurface hurt but she could see the validity of his words. He had done all that he had said he had done and she couldn't deny that she had been happy with him. Aside from what he had made her remember she remembered other things, how she had told him once that he had been like a father to her. Her own words, that statement full of her feelings, rung in her ears as she thought of her words to him before she ran away.

Afraid to push Robyn further from him, Sportacus watched as Robyn evidently battled with her thoughts. He had said all he could say, he had delved into a place within himself that he barely ever registered. It had proved itself enough to make her think but he wasn't certain if it was enough to help them sort through their problems.


	7. Chapter 7

How his hands ached to feel her again, how his arms wanted to hold her in them as his lips kissed the top of her head. He wanted it so badly but yet he waited. His temptation was almost too much but he waited. Until she had come to the resolution she was searching for there was nothing more for him to do but wait. His only concern was that his patience wouldn't last that long and that his temptation would lead him to destroy the frail bridge he had managed to build between them, a bridge he couldn't afford to burn. It was a bridge he couldn't see her burning either, it would be too much for him to see it pulled apart when he had worked so hard to put it together for the sake that they might still salvage something of their past. A past he had reminded her of, not to spite her or offer her an excuse but evidence for his reasons for keeping quiet.

She had been young when her false father had died, too young to understand what had happened to him or that when she had been told that he'd gone away that he wouldn't be coming back. She had been too young to understand what lies were, not little white lies but big lies that had the potential to destroy whole families, as his had done. If he'd have told her then she wouldn't have understood. She wouldn't have known the difference between a biological father and a foster father. Her little mind would have accepted that he wasn't her real father but had just called himself that to make her feel better, that he was her pretend father rather than the man she should have called father a long time ago.

Surely as she sat there thinking she could see that. Surely she was old enough now to know that it was better for her to know at the age she was now than to be told when she was four and have to go through the pain of being told that the man she had thought to be her real father was a pretend father and vice versa. It was this that led him to take a risk, they had lost so much already and he hoped it was a risk that would gain him something in return.

Ever so slowly he stretched out his hand. She was falling and he wanted to catch her, he had to catch her. Her cheek became taut to his touch as her body tensed against his intrusion into her personal space. Knowing that every action he took could overbalance her and make her leave him again, he drew his hand away. Unable to touch her he caressed her with his eyes, a touch she couldn't feel unless her eyes met his but they were still staring at the same space on the floor that they had been staring at for what seemed like hours to him. In those hours he remained silent for fear that his words would drive her more deeply into herself that she already was.

He could think of no other way to release her from her prison then to let her find her own key.

Robbie leant against the wall with his arms folded. A smile of amusement passed across his face as he watched Kit struggle with his nipple ring. So far he hadn't been noticed and it was obvious to him that it would be a while before he was acknowledged but that didn't bother him, he was kept occupied by the numerous swear words he heard his preoccupied host utter under his breath. It was almost too much for him to resist offering his assistance when he heard some swear words that had made the air crackle. As he walked over to the side of the bed he was glad that Robyn and Sportacus hadn't been in the room to hear it.

"Need any help with that?" He asked leaning over Kit's shoulder.

Kit nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice at his ear. It was as much as he could do to keep his nipple ring grasped within his fingers when his arms flew up in his fright. Snapping his head round to where he guessed the voice had come from and came face to face with an equally frightened looking Robbie.

"Bloody hell!" He exclaimed getting his breath back, "Don't sneak up on people like that, Robbie. That's not healthy you know."

At Kit's words Robbie's fear dissolved into humour and he doubled up with laughter, the suggestion that he had snuck up on Kit seemed silly when he must have been in the room for no less than ten minutes but he could also see it from Kit's side. Wiping tears from his eyes he apologised and held out a hand to be shaken.

"Don't worry about it, just don't do it again." Kit warned taking the hand and shaking it.

"I won't, I promise. How are you feeling?"

"Apart from my very recent heart attack I feel sore. Everything from my head down hurts."

Robbie smiled sympathetically, "You want me to get someone to give you something?"

"Not just yet. Where's Robyn anyway?"

"Visiting Sportacus, he's been in here a few days."

"What happened?"

Taking a seat beside Kit's bed, Robbie explained what had happened as far as he knew it. Kit seemed to take everything in his stride as he recounted how close everyone had come to losing both Sportacus and Greta and that the person responsible for the attack hadn't been found yet. A slight glint of annoyance showed in Kit's face when he heard that all possible evidence was destroyed in the airship crash leading the police to a dead end. When he had finished, Robbie sat back and waited for Kit to absorb everything.

"Look, Robbie, I'm sorry." Kit said finally, a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

Robbie frowned slightly, "What for?"

"For threatening you. Finding out you weren't Robyn's dad…I should have helped you out rather than attacking you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Robbie dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand, "Just tell me what happened out there in Toronto. Robyn said very little."

Taking a deep breath Kit proceeded to tell Robbie everything. He told him about the note he had found in his jacket, about his agonising wait at the airport. He told him about making it to Toronto only to find a few hours later that a full scale emergency had broken out and how he'd followed Cain into the Raven only to be knocked out. He told him how he'd found Robyn, how they'd spent sleepless nights together while they fought to come to terms with what had happened and his guilt at not being able to rescue her. Moving on from that, he told him about their escape attempt, about being trapped in the car while Cain was on the roof. He told him how he'd never been as scared for his life as he had been when he'd been in that car. He told him about Sami and Radboud and how they'd sacrificed themselves so that he and Robyn would be safe. He told him about he had married Robyn, how he'd been scared to die alone or to let her suffer the same fate. When he had told him about the church and about Elias he told him about their journey home.

While he listened, Robbie absorbed every word. He'd remained composed throughout as he'd been told everything, all the facts laid bare before him in their startling colours. It hurt him to hear Kit express his feelings so vividly and to hear the fullness of what had happened to him and Robyn but he reassured himself with the fact that they were home safely now and that Cain was gone.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Janette walked through the club as the time came for her to consider opening the club. Before her staff joined her for their briefing she had just enough time to check the stock levels in the fridges behind the bar. Opening the wine cooler she smiled at Miklos' conscientiousness in maintaining that particular side of the business. Next she moved onto the beer fridge. She bent down and opened one door of the double door cabinet. Something caught her eye as she glanced in. Something that she was sure didn't belong in there. Looking around her with unnatural anxiety she pulled open the second door swiftly. She closed her eyes against the sight of what greeted her.

A disembodied head stared at her from the floor of the fridge. Its eyes were wide open, frozen in terror. It had a face she recognised, it was the face of Robyn's attacker that night. From its mouth a piece of paper hung loosely, a piece of paper with writing on it. She opened her eyes a fraction as she bent down and carefully removed the note, a shiver of fear spread through her as she read the words upon it.

'_If you thought this was over,_ _you were wrong._'


	8. Chapter 8

Doctor Cole rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand as he walked tiredly out of the theatre where he had just performed a six hour operation on an emergency admission. From what he'd been told in an uncomfortably rushed handover the admission had been found on the roadside after either having been hit by a car or attacked beforehand where he had later collapsed in the place he had been found. Even after a thorough inspection during the operation he had been unable to ascertain which it had been but after previous circumstances over the last couple of weeks he chose to err on the side of caution and had gotten a nurse to contact the police to notify them of what he had found. They had made an arrangement to speak to the patient when he awoke after surgery and had also wanted to see Kit. It was possible that they would want to speak to Sportacus as well.

At a few points during the operation he had doubted that the patient would live but he hadn't let the doubt grow far enough in his mind to distract him from his main objective. To his opinion doubt was like a cancer, it was barely detectable and could spread quickly when not noticed. Even though some means could be taken to block its passage or slow its progress through the body it could never be fully removed. The best course of action was to realise its presence and prevent it from spreading through careful control before it could take a grip and devastate whatever it touched. There had been very few times in his career when he had failed to take such steps, only once had he fallen prey to complacency. It had been a mistake that had almost cost him his career and the life of a patient entrusted solely to his care.

The sound of someone whistling a tune coupled with rapid footsteps shook the doctor from his thoughts and he only had enough time to look up before a pair of lips latched themselves onto his own. Slightly startled by this unexpected advance on his person he pulled away but seeing that his assailant was none other than Michael he smiled and offered him a compensatory kiss for his reaction. Pulling away again he smiled briefly before taking a seat on a nearby chair, his leg was causing him great discomfort. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Michael seat himself beside him and groaned inwardly at what was coming, a lecture.

"I expected you home two hours ago," Michael began his words slow, "How long were you in there?" He continued nodding his head towards the door to the hospital's theatres.

Doctor Cole sighed, "Six hours."

"Six hours! What the hell are you playing at, Gerald? Wasn't there anyone else?"

"I'm the on-call. If the board would fix me in a place I'd stay there but until Rory comes back there's nothing I or they can do."

"Bull shit, laddy. I don't give a rat's arse if there's no Doctor Malone to help you out. There are enough doctors in this place to handle things like that. Don't they care about your leg being painful enough to keep you up most of the night?"

"They would if I'd told them."

Michael bristled at this, "What are you doing, man? You're seventy six years old not forty something! You need to take things easy, if you don't your leg will never heal. Six hours surgery and running this whole hospital yourself, disgraceful! If you don't tell them about your leg, laddy, I will and you know I won't choose my words as carefully as you."

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Michael."

"Aye, you might think that but you do need me to. You're too soft, Gerald, you always have been."

"Yes, well, I might be but that isn't the point. If you're finished admonishing me there are some things I need to do and then I'd like to go home."

"They'd better be quick things."

Doctor Cole sighed again, "They are. I just need to write some brief notes on Kit and Sportacus' paperwork-"

"Kit? Is he here too? What happened to him?"

"I'll let him tell you that. Come on."

Leaning most of his weight on his good leg, Doctor Cole stood up and waited for Michael to follow his example before walking down the corridor. He felt guilty for leaving his two favourite patients in the lurch like he had but he accepted that when he had no choice, he had no choice. Being that he was the on-call doctor until Doctor Malone returned to work he had to drop anything in the situation of an emergency arising as had happened before.

Everything was quiet and had been for some time when Sportacus finally mustered up enough courage to say something to his silent daughter. The words were on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't force them further. It felt as if whenever he spoke to her he hurt her in some way which made it difficult for him to push through with his intention, it frustrated him that he was restricted by a verbal inadequacy he'd never encountered before that night when he had let his deepest secret slip from his lips.

"Don't say anything," Robyn looked at Sportacus with an indefinable emotion in her eyes that made him weary, "Just hold me."

At first Robyn's words didn't penetrate the shield of weariness that Sportacus had erected should she launch another attack on him verbally accusing him of more lies and refusing to hear any further explanations or excuses he wished to offer but when the words sunk in and registered to his mind such relief filled him as he had never felt before. She had opened a door he had feared tightly locked but in his hopefulness he didn't forget that this wasn't a pardon for his crimes but a second chance by which he could redeem himself with time.

It was with burgeoning trepidation that he slowly edged towards her in fear that he had misheard her or that she would change her mind and push him away again. Not wanting to push her or himself too hard too soon he touched her cheek softly with his hand. This time she didn't pull away but he could still feel her tense slightly. A little weary but yet determined to get through the barrier stopping him from taking that step closer to repairing the damage he had done, he moved his other hand slowly around her waist. When she didn't resist to this touch either he moved his first hand round her shoulders and pulled her to him in an embrace that filled him with emotion.

Burying his face in her soft hair, he tightened his grip on her but not too much so not to hurt her. Slowly he lifted her off of her seat and turning a little sat down in it himself with her rested on his lap. Neither of them moved nor spoke for some time, they were too absorbed in their own thoughts and reflections to break what had been built between them.

Starting to feel uncomfortable, Robyn shifted herself slightly and looked at Sportacus. There was something different about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on and it frustrated her slightly. It was only when he kissed her forehead that she realised what she had missed and looked at him again. A slight smile curved the corners of her mouth as she studied him.

"What?" Sportacus asked feeling confused by this scrutiny.

"You look different, your moustache is gone. I've never seen you without it."

"Do you like how I look without it?"

Robyn thought for a few moments before scrunching up her nose and shaking her head. With a chuckle he bent over and kissed her. He was glad that things seemed to be working out between them at last.


	9. Chapter 9

At first they didn't see that they were being at watched. At first they didn't notice the low growl mingled with the sound of gnashing teeth. They were too busy talking to each other in their small tent outside of town to hear anything beside their own voices and their eyes were too busy opening and closing in sleep to see that the dark shape was advancing slowly towards them. Already it had a thrown a shadow on the front of the tent which made it look bigger than it actually was but they didn't notice it or its clear warning that something was coming. Had its progress not been silent across the ground save for its panting breath and occasional snarls and had they not been talking all the while they would have known of its presence and of its advance towards them. When one did finally realise that something was there it was too late, it was practically on top of them and blocking their only exit out of the tent.

Acke looked round when he felt a hand nervously patting his left shoulder. To his annoyance he saw that it was Jakob who had disturbed a conversation he had been having with another of his companions. At first he thought that Acke was being his normal, jumpy self but his mind was quickly changed when he caught sight of what the other man had seen. In his surprise he too began tapping someone on the shoulder. It was Faas' shoulder. He would know what to do. As soon as Faas responded to his beckoning he pointed at the shape outside, all three men stared at it while trying to work out what it was.

Even through the canvas they could see the glint of teeth shining brightly in the unrestricted moonlight. The teeth were sharp and bared ready to attack at the slightest provocation from anyone that dared face it. Beneath their fearful panting the three men could hear the low guttural growl leaking through the bared teeth threatening to rip them apart. It was an inhuman sound that seemed to echo around their tiny surroundings and deep down into the insides of their ears.

"What…what is it?" Jakob stammered as he trembled.

"A… ghost? A…monster? I don't know." Acke replied also trembling.

Faas licked his dry lips, "It has to be something. An animal perhaps."

"But what kind?" Jakob whined.

"I don't know. Stay here you two, let me…let me look."

Closing his eyes tightly and building up all the courage he could muster in himself, Faas unzipped the tent and pushed himself out into the night air. Finding enough strength to go another step further he opened his eyes quickly so as not to go back on his intention.

What he saw made him yell in fright. After that initial scream several more followed ringing out into the night.

Sat at the small table with their legs crossed and a row of playing cards shielding their faces, Rico and Alejandro looked at their hand. One used his poker face well while the other inwardly and outwardly grimaced at theirs. They knew there was no way they'd beat the other with their unlucky deal. Trying to guard his disappointment, Rico levelled his eyes with Alejandro's face. He lowered them again instantly when he noticed that his brother had thought alike.

Steeling himself against all possible mockery from his brother, Rico took a deep breath and placed his cards face up on the table while exhaling more air than he had taken in. He didn't breathe in again until his opponent had begun to lower his cards as well. It was sight he never got to see, however, as both of their crystals flared into life. With a single look at one another they ignored their game and left the airship leaving only enough time to nod a farewell at their watchful mother.

As soon as their feet made contact with the ground both twins ran as fast as they could in the direction their ears told them the screams were coming from. They could see very little in the darkness but continued running in the hope that they would see something to guide them closer. Both of them knew well of the attacks of a few days before and both hoped that this was an unrelated incident, something simple that they could deal with quickly and with little trouble. Neither of them was feeling up to fighting off a potential attacker or attackers to whoever was screaming.

Reaching the brow of a small hill, both brothers skidded to a halt as they saw a familiar shape making its way over to a dome shaped object in the distance.

Acke wanted to run, he wanted to run far away, to burst from the tent and to be free from whatever it was that was holding him and his friends hostage but their screams mingled with own as they too struggled within their confines. Below their screams they could still hear the vicious growling sound, a sound that rumbled from deep within the belly of a beast. Unable to take it any longer he broke from his friends, he had to be away, and threw open the door of the tent but something forced him back in.

The beast.

It had leapt at him as he had tried escaping and now ran over him and his colleagues. Their small electric lamp was knocked over and they were plunged into even deeper darkness than before. It increased their fear ten fold and incensed their screams still further as the growling and gnashing heightened its volume while the rap of in human feet tore around their confined surroundings. None of them knew how long they could keep their minds under such immense fear but their questions were soon answered as their ordeal ended.

Three pairs of hands shredded the tent around them and all three men ran off in different directions, tripping over themselves in their panic to get away. Each of them rolled desperately around on the floor in fear that they were being pursued. None of them cared to wonder how they had escaped or what had been terrorising them in their tiredness. All they were concerned with was getting as far away from where they had been as possible.

Rico and Alejandro took off after the men who had strangely drawn level with each other in a group. In the state that they were in there was a good chance they'd do damage to themselves of some description and both brothers knew they had to prevent that from happening.

With his hands on his hips, Ché peered down at what remained of the tent. What had caused such panic amongst the men? Bending down on one knee he looked closer at the dishevelled canvas below him. Something was moving. He was ready to apprehend whatever it was when he heard a familiar panting sound, a much gentler sound than that he'd hear before. As he continued to watch he saw a head poke out from the wreckage, in its mouth it held one of the biggest rats he had ever seen in his life.

"Skip?" He asked, recognition coming to the fore.

As if to answer the dog dropped its bounty and barked once while wagging his tail.

Finally having taken stock of the situation and remembering the fright the men had been put under by a little dog, Ché burst out laughing. His laughter echoed across the space between him and the three men that had been successfully rounded up by his sons. Each of them looked puzzled as to what could be so funny but their puzzlement turned to embarrassment when they saw what had been hiding outside their tent. Only one out of the three men became angry at the animal and the trouble it had caused.

"Stupid animal!" Jakob yelled and raised a foot to kick at the dog.

Ché quickly blocked the blow and pointed an angry finger at what Skip had dropped from his mouth, "You see that? He wasn't after you, he was after that. It was in your tent and would have been there all night long if he hadn't shown up. You may not realise it but he saved you more than we did, that rat could have tried harming you in your sleep."

"What is it called?" Faas asked kneeling down beside the animal.

"He's called, Skip. He's a friend of a friend."

Nodding, Faas stroked Skip tenderly and thanked him for his good work. In reply to Faas' thanks the dog held out a paw and when it had been shaken, barked once and took his leave from the group as he hobbled off into the night.

Faas stood up as soon as the dog had left and gave Jakob a reproachful look, "If I _ever_ catch you trying to do something like that again, I'll report you." Turning to face Ché he continued, "What happens now?"

Looking down at the tent and then in the direction of town, Ché looked back at Faas. "I know a place where you gentlemen will be welcome."

With a sweep of his arm Ché bid the men follow him and his sons into town. He hoped it wouldn't be too late at night to disturb Bessie and the Mayor. He was eager to be rid of the men and be reunited with his wife and to also hear news of Robyn and Kit.


	10. Chapter 10

Steam rolled lazily into the air from a freshly poured cup of tea rested on the bedside table beside an open book that shone under the light of a table lamp dwarfed by a large cream coloured shade. In the bed beside that table a man and woman lay as they waited for sleep they knew would not come easily. Things had happened recently to put them ill at ease despite the safety of their home. For the first time in a long time they had locked their front door, something that until now they had never had cause to do since their once peaceful town had been terrorised by a woman that had turned everything upside down for them all. They were prisoners in their own home, hostages held by uncertainty as to who would get hurt next after those three people had been attacked by an unknown entity that now had them trapped in their fear.

Shifting himself slightly into a rather uncomfortable and slightly dangerous position, Mayor Meanswell lifted his cup of tea to his lips before setting it back into its matching saucer. With a lot of effort he manoeuvred himself back to his previous position and turned his head to look at his companion. Bessie noticed his glance and forced a smile, trying to reassure him that she wasn't as scared as she felt. Her smile only faltered when a loud knocking sounded at the front door of their house, knocking with such force that could tear the door from its hinges.

Pushed to his last limit when the knocking continued in a ceaseless rhythm that pressed his nerves and made his head hurt, the Mayor withdrew from Bessie's grasp and threw back the blankets covering him. With his feet shaking he slid on his slippers and padded towards the bedroom door. Raising a hand caught in a tremor he pulled his dressing gown from a hook fixed to the door. With great difficulty he pulled his dressing gown over his arms and wrapped it around himself. Opening the door he spared a look at Bessie before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Surrounded by a darkness in the hallway he had learnt many years before to navigate he padded out to the kitchen and made his way towards the shaking front door pausing only to pull a spatula from a drawer in one of the units. Standing in front of the door he pulled back the bolt that he hadn't used in so long. With a white knuckled grip on the door handle he threw open the door.

The sight that greeted him wasn't quite what he'd been expecting.

Alone at last, they lay together on the bed. With his eyes half closed he gently caressed the top of her head with lazy fingers that luxuriated in the softness of her hair. His body took comfort in the warmth of hers as she rested against him. He knew that it offered her comfort too, knowing that he was alive and safe. As he continued to stoke her head he wondered what would have happened to her if he'd not gotten the upper hand in his fight with Lily, it was a thought that caused him more pain than all of his injuries put together. He opened his eyes when he felt a hand clasp the other of his own.

"Don't think about that. I'm fine." Robyn whispered.

Kit nodded, "I know. It's just…sometimes…one day…"

"When it happens, it will happen. I know you'll always protect me whenever you can but you can't always be there to save me. You know that already."

"I should have known he was there, I should have known that he'd knock me out."

"You can't know everything, no one can. Not even me. I didn't know that you'd been attacked until Bessie phoned us. You need to let it go. What happened happened and we can't change that, nothing can. I know you're hurting."

Kit watched distractedly as he saw Robyn snake a hand up to his chest. He grabbed it by the wrist and pulled it away from him, his grip was tight but not tight enough to hurt her or do any harm.

"Don't do that," He began, "I know what you can do, what you've done before and want to do now but don't. Leave me with something, Robyn, please."

Robyn nodded and drew her hand away, "Ok. I hate to see you like this though."

"Like how?"

"Broody, it doesn't seem right. Not with you. I just wish there was some way I could cheer you up."

"There is something you can do."

"What's that?"

"You can kiss me here," Kit pointed to his forehead, "here," then he pointed to his cheek, "here" he said pointing to his other cheek, "and, here." He finished pointing at his groin with a sparkle in his eyes and his little boy grin lighting up his face.

Opening her eyes and mouth wide in mock outrage, Robyn punched Kit on the arm before dissolving into laughter. She could feel his laughter vibrate through him as it filled the air around them.

"Ah well, it was worth a try." Kit chuckled when he had regained the power of speech, "Come here you," He then said pulling Robyn further up the bed and kissing her.

Robyn returned the kiss with the same tenderness with which it had been given to her. His lips curved into a smile under hers and he stroked her back with his hand. The couple's kiss was rudely interrupted when someone was heard clearing their throat pointedly.

The seven men stared at each other in a stupor of sheer confusion. Six men standing out in the cold dumb at the sight of the seventh inside the house wielding a spatula as a means of defence against an attack that wasn't going to happen. Had they not been so bewildered by the sight and the circumstances surrounding it they would have laughed out loud but their nervous systems kept them sedated as their brains tried to process what was happening. They were tired and this process was painfully slow. It only speeded up when a strained voice was heard from the hallway.

Blinking several times to clear the fog from his mind, Mayor Meanswell turned towards the hallway.

"It's ok, Bessie." He reassured, "It's just Ché with some other gentlemen."

Hearing these calming words Bessie emerged into the kitchen, "I wondered what was going on when I couldn't hear anything. What was the meaning of that dreadful racket, Ché?"

"I'm very sorry for the rude awakening, Mrs Busybody. These gentlemen with me were camped out near Sportacus' airship, or what's left of it and Skip frightened them terribly. Unfortunately I and my sons had to rip the tent to get them out. They have nowhere else to sleep. I'll understand if you don't want them here, I should know my own strength when knocking on doors."

Mayor Meanswell shook his head and a dismissive hand, "I understand, Ché. I'd rather it was you knocking down my door than anyone else. After all, who knows who's creeping around out there. You leave these men with us and get yourself off to bed. I'm sure Greta is missing you."

"Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm very sorry again for the intrusion and promise it won't happen again. Alejandro, Rico, tell your mother I've returned. I need to fetch the airship."

Rico and Alejandro left straight away to do as they had been told while Ché went to find his airship after he had left it in a rush to answer his crystal's call. It was almost more than he could do to spend that extra ten minutes away from his beloved wife.

Kit looked up at the stranger that had appeared in the doorway with a frown creasing his brow. There was something that looked familiar about this man but he couldn't put his finger on what. As he studied them the stranger moved further into the room allowing for easier scrutiny that they seemed to invite. It was an odd thing to do to him but he didn't let that feeling press too deeply into his mind, it would only serve to distract him from working out where the resemblance had come from.

Unlike Kit, Robyn knew exactly who the stranger was. A fire lighted in her blood at the sight of him that would not be quenched for a long time.


	11. Chapter 11

Deep within her, her blood boiled. Her eyes shone with an anger that she had only felt once before, anger that threatened to break through its carefully constructed bonds with such force that she would be unable to control it. Her face had become a blank canvas waiting to be painted by the brush of life that would colour its surface with whatever emotion came first. It was something that didn't go unnoticed by the others in the room. They could almost feel it in its intensity as it filled the room making the atmosphere pregnant with unreleased tension that seemed to be mounting as every second grated by slower and slower. The air had become heavy with silence that seemed to deafen them to everything around them and beyond. She could feel it as it surrounded them, blocking everything in its path. There was no escape from it as it grew, filling the room entirely, so thick that it seemed that it would be almost impossible to break it.

Only one person attempted it.

"Don't look at me like that, Robyn. Not at least until you've heard me out." The stranger scolded lightly keeping his tone and face neutral.

"What could you possibly have to say?" Robyn shot back, "What can you possibly expect me to listen to? You never listened to me when I pleaded with you to give me a chance, to listen to what I had to say, to try and make some sort of relationship with you and convince you that I wasn't like her. You never gave me any of those things. Every letter I sent you came back unopened, every attempt to call you ended up in you hanging up on me. I even came to see you but you slammed the door in face. Even after that I invited you to my wedding but you just threw it all back in my face like everything else. You never gave me a chance so why should I give you one?"

Kit frowned slightly, "So that's why you look familiar. You're her grandfather aren't you?"

"Yes I am," Nine nodded, "Although I know that I haven't acted like it. I understand that you were angry, Robyn, and that you're angry now but please, let an old fool try to make amends for twenty one years worth of mistakes. At least let me start by saying sorry."

Even though she hadn't wanted to, Robyn heard her grandfather out. It had been hard to ignore the sincerity of his words coupled with the look of fragile hope on his face. Her anger mellowed as they sunk in, she couldn't turn him away. No matter what he had done to her in her life she couldn't push an old man away after he had done something she'd never expected, apologised for mistakes he'd come to realise he had made. It was something she'd stopped hoping for after all of the disappointment she had felt but she still felt weary, afraid that she would be pushed away again.

This was something Kit seemed to pick up on. She could feel him stroke her back with one of his hands as he kissed her cheek softly. Slowly he moved his lips to her ear.

"It'll be alright. He obviously feels sorry. Look at him, he's crying inside. As much as I don't like what he did or him for doing it you should talk with him. Go and have a long talk with him over a late night pizza from the Pizza Palace. I'll be fine here." He whispered.

With the barest movement Robyn nodded. As subtle as her lover's hint had been she knew that he wanted to sleep. Turning her head to kiss him she got off of the bed, as she reached for her crutch she could see her grandfather's reaction out of the corner of her eye. It was obvious to her that he hadn't heard about her problem.

Motioning for her grandfather to leave the room first she followed. Before closing the door behind her she spared Kit a final glance, he was in pain and she hated to see him like this but she knew that she had to let him have some time to himself to rest and to go over what had happened in his mind. Even though he'd never admit it, he'd been shaken in more ways than one. His statements with the police had brought home to him just what had happened and just how lucky he was to escape.

Hearing a sound below her, Greta waited for her sons to emerge from the ladder hatch. She didn't notice that there was only one pair of feet and hands climbing the ladder towards her sons' floating home. Not knowing which of her twins would arrive at the top first she refrained from calling out their name and waited in silence. It was only when a pair of hands bigger than those of her sons appeared on the rim of the hatch that she realised that she had been wrong. Her heart swelled as she saw the top of someone's head appear shortly after the hands, a head she knew well. A face appeared on the upturned head that made her own face glow with happiness as she saw it. Soon the whole body was through the hatch and she almost ran to be reunited with her husband.

"Greta," Ché half laughed holding his wife in a fierce hug.

"Ché, I was so worried. When Kit and Robyn came back and you didn't…Elias said nothing to me." Greta explained relishing the long lost contact with her only love.

"How are Kit and Robyn?"

Closing her eyes Greta stood back from Ché, "Something happened a few days ago. There was a stranger in town, Kit was attacked. Alejandro found him but the attacked was nowhere to be seen. He took him to Mayor Meanswell's house but they had to call an ambulance because he passed out."

"Santa Maria! Is he alright? What about Robyn?"

"Kit's fine, he's still in the hospital and will be in for a few more days. Robyn went with Robbie to see him and she didn't come back with him, I think she's still there."

"Why would she not have come home with Robbie? Has something happened?"

"I don't know, at least I don't think so but there is something you should know."

There was something in Greta's voice that made Ché feel very weary.

They had moved from one place of silence to another. A corridor dimly lit with lights designed only to be used at night. They offered just enough illumination for people to be able to see what they were doing without being so bright as to disturb those that were trying to sleep. As the two walked through the semi darkness they said nothing, neither wanting to break the comfortable silence around them or run the risk of disturbing anyone until they were away from the wards and into one of the public areas, one of which was nearby.

As they reached the nearly deserted cafeteria they noticed that the lights were still on and a few people sat at half empty tables. Pushing the doors to test them they noticed that they were still unlocked, looking at each other and making a silent decision between them, they entered. Hardly any of the people already in the room acknowledged them as they sat down at a table. It seemed as if they'd walked into a tableau, a living, moving picture that was nothing more than that.

Keeping his voice quiet, Nine finally broke the silence, "What happened to you? Why do you have the crutch?"

"To cut a long story short, I had epilepsy and not too long ago I decided to have an operation to remove the damaged part of my brain that was causing it. It was a risk a lot of people didn't want me to take but I took it anyway. The operation went well but something unexpected happened, my blood pressure spiked causing a bleed. It wasn't until I came out of my coma after the operation that they knew that something had happened as a result of it."

"Which was?"

"A minor stroke. There was nothing they could do to prevent it. I knew that there was a good chance that I wouldn't come through the operation in one piece and I was right."

"Can't they help you? Treat you for it?"

Robyn sighed, "I'm on a waiting list to see a physiotherapist. Hopefully I'll be on the top of that list in a week."

Nine smiled and placed one of his hands on Robyn's. It was then that he noticed the scar on her wrist.


	12. Chapter 12

He almost couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him. It didn't seem right that it would be there, he couldn't accept what its presence meant. A sickening, sinking feeling formed in the pit of stomach that made it feel almost as if it had been tied in a knot. It was a knot so tight he'd almost lost the ability to breathe, it couldn't be true, it just couldn't be true. His eyes were telling him what it was, that it was there but in his mind he just couldn't accept it but yet he couldn't ignore it. It was there staring him in the face, an angry scar that stretched all the way across his granddaughter's right wrist, a testament that something had happened to her recently that he hoped she hadn't inflicted upon herself even though he couldn't be sure of that fact. Looking into her eyes he hoped that she could at least tell him that she hadn't done it to herself.

"What is this?" Nine asked his brow furrowing deeply in a frown of anger tinged worry.

Robyn tried to pull her hand away, "It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing."

Nine pulled Robyn's hand closer to him and turned it over fully with such force and speed that it startled her. She let out a small cry as he touched the painful wound, it made him let go of her hand as if it were red hot. Slowly she tried to draw her hand away but she could tell he wasn't yet through, his fingers interlaced with hers and she could feel his ice blue eyes willing her to look at him. Their pull was powerful but she resisted, he would make her go over it, make her tell him what had happened and she couldn't do it.

She couldn't face the pain of having to go over everything that had happened to her in Toronto. It was bad enough that when the police had come to see Kit they had asked that at some point during the week she see them at the local police station to debrief them on what had happened so that they could close their books on her case, they had spent a long time looking for her and wanted to know why she had run away.

It wasn't something she wasn't looking forward to.

Even though her eyes were lowered almost to the point of being shut she could see him raise a hand towards her face. His touch on her cheek was painfully gentle, like a whisper against her ear, but yet she flinched. It was something he didn't miss and she could feel him hook a thumb over her hair and pull it back from her face, another scar was revealed, another scar from the same person that would never heal. Like the scars within her it was just too deep.

Shaking off his surprise, Nine tried to fend off his growing anger, "I think you need to tell me the truth. Where did you get these scars?"

It was a question, a simple question but she couldn't answer it. Answering it would be making her do what she didn't want to. It would make her tell him everything, if she told him she would have to tell Sportacus. If she told Sportacus he would blame himself, she'd seen how fragile he was when she'd gone to visit him, she couldn't kick him while he was down, she just couldn't.

"Robyn, tell me what happened." Nine commanded again, his tone of voice told her that he wouldn't put up with her silence much longer.

The sound of footsteps outside his door woke him up. There was someone outside of his room. It seemed as if they were almost on the point of coming in but were hesitating for a reason unknown to him. He was almost tempted to call out, to tell them either to go away or come in but he was worried that he would disturb people that were trying to sleep or alert a nurse's attention to him. He didn't really like the idea of being given another pain killer via an injection in his stomach, as long as they thought he was asleep he would be spared the discomfort of it until morning. The only thing bothering him about it was that he wasn't asleep.

Someone had placed their hand on the door handle of his room. They pushed it down and he waited for them to open the door but nothing happened. It was as if they had frozen, debating whether or not to push through and run the risk of disturbing him or if they really wanted to enter his room. As if in answer to his theory the hand released the handle allowing it to return to its normal position. Listening carefully he could hear the footsteps recede, it wasn't long before he heard the person turn back and stop outside his door again. Once again the door handle was pushed down. This time the person on the other side pushed it slowly open. Even when the door was half open he couldn't see who his visitor was and had no idea of who would be coming to see him at that hour of the night.

He knew it wasn't Lily come back for another try, if it had been her he would have dead by now. She wouldn't have hesitated outside, she wouldn't have changed her mind about opening the door, she wouldn't have walked away only to come back again and she certainly wouldn't be making a meal of coming into the room. She would have been in by now and exacting her evil revenge for knocking her down, he was just glad that Robyn wasn't in the room with him.

Eventually the person pushing the door showed themselves. It wasn't Lily at all. In fact, it was her brother.

She didn't know how much time had passed. It might have been seconds, minutes or even hours, she had no idea. The only thing she was aware of was her grandfather's gaze burning into her from his position at the other side of the table. His hand was still at her cheek, it wouldn't be long before it was at her chin, tilting her head up so that she had no choice but to look at him. Looking at him would only be the next step to telling him what had happened. The moment she looked him in the face she would have to tell him the truth, his eyes would soften as she related where she had gotten the scars from. His hands would fix themselves together, trembling with emotions he couldn't release. Years of conditioning himself against emotional weakness would have done that. One day she'd tell him that that in itself was a form of weakness, that he was just hiding from those feelings rather than accepting them.

The rasp of his hand against her cheek brought back painful memories as he lowered it to her chin. It rested there, a hand hardened by many years of hard labour, a hand that had saved many lives and that had raised two children. It was a hand that wouldn't leave until it had answers. It sought those answers by tilting her head upwards. As soon as her eyes made contact with his she knew that he had won, there was nothing more that she could do but tell him everything. The only thing she couldn't tell him was who had attacked her. That would bring up far more questions than she could ever answer.

"I was attacked." Robyn said finally, her whole body was trembling under the emotional strain of reliving that awful nightmare as she spoke. "I was alone, someone was following me. I don't know why I did it but I wanted to know who they were and turned off down an alleyway. Maybe I hoped that they wouldn't follow me there but they did. I was cornered. One minute I see him pulling a scalpel from his pocket and the next he slashed my face. I tried to run but he grabbed my arm, that's when he cut my wrist. The next thing I remember after that is waking up in the hospital. They didn't find the man that did it, he found me again."

"What did he do?" Nine asked.

He hoped that she wouldn't tell him what he thought she would.

"He…he kidnapped me. I was tied up, I couldn't move. It was dark, he was there. He was there all the time and he…" Robyn couldn't finish, it was just too painful.

Nine nodded, his worst fears confirmed. His eyes had softened with unshed tears that he refused to cry. To cry so openly in a public place was weak, he wouldn't do it. When he had overcome the threat his next words might rock his emotions he looked up at Robyn.

"I take it Sportacus knows all of this?"

Robyn shook her head.

Nine's brow furrowed once more. This wasn't the answer he'd been expecting. Making a solid decision he got up from his chair, something had to be done about his son's ignorance in the matter. Walking around the table he pulled out his granddaughter's chair, she was about to stand when he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up. It was obvious to her what he was intending to do and she struggled but he carried her out of the cafeteria regardless much to the bemusement of those in the room that cared to observe the scene.

One of which people followed them out. He wanted an explanation.


	13. Chapter 13

Someone was following them. He could hear their footsteps above his on the hard, tile floor. They were almost matching him for pace, trying to keep up, wanting to overtake him. They wanted to know what was going on, why he was treating his granddaughter in that fashion, he knew that but he wasn't going to let that stop him. His son had to know what had happened to his niece. He had a right to know. He wasn't going to be a party to keeping his son in the dark about what had happened to her during her time wherever she had run away to. The longer he delayed the harder it would be for him to get Robyn to talk. She had barely told him everything, he knew there was more. There was something she was holding back but he wasn't sure what. Questions began to form in his mind. They spun around as he thought about them, trying to find their answers.

Did she know who had attacked her? Had she known them before the attack? What had made her leave her home in the first place? What was his son holding back from him?

Another question had posed itself on his mind but it was less urgent than the others. It was something that could wait until later, much later. Even though he tried to push it to the back of his mind it wouldn't go. It refused to be ignored and kept coming back to the front of his mind, who was following them? He didn't want to turn around and find out, there wasn't time, but as the moments drifted by his curiosity fought to get the better of him. He began to think that a quick backward glance wouldn't do any harm, it certainly wouldn't halt his progress towards his son's room any. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to try it, he might be proven wrong after all, maybe the person wasn't following them but was heading in the same direction. Maybe they just wanted to get past him because he was blocking the way. He couldn't deny that his granddaughter's struggles were making it awkward for him to walk in a straight line. Following this assumption he stopped walking, it would give him a chance to speak with his granddaughter when the stranger had passed by. She was starting to annoy him.

Instead of passing by, the stranger came to a halt in front of him. It was a man of average if not slightly above average height with a slender frame and chiselled features. His hair was a sandy, blonde colour, neatly combed back and perfectly under control. Two Neptune blue eyes stared at him from beneath thin brows that were knitted together in a tight frown of defiance, a silent challenge that demanded an answer.

"Doctor Malone!" Robyn exclaimed recognising the man standing before her and her grandfather.

Doctor Malone nodded and then looked up at Nine, "What's going on here?"

"I'm taking my granddaughter to discuss something with my son." Nine replied as if holding his fully grown granddaughter under his arm was a usual occurrence.

"I'd suggest that it wait until morning and that you put her down now."

"Who are you to tell me what I should and should not do?"

"I am a Doctor at this Hospital. I apologise for being abrupt, Sir, but if you refuse to release your granddaughter I will have no choice but to call security."

With a total look of disdain, Nine did as he was asked. The last thing he wanted was to waste his time in a confrontation with a doctor. It was hard for him to accept it but he would have to wait until the next day before he could get Robyn to talk to Sportacus about what she had told him. Once he was sure that Robyn was safely in the seemingly capable hands of the doctor he made his exit pausing only to cast a black look in the doctor's direction. Only Robyn could tell that beneath his seeming calm he was rigid with anger. She hoped it was an anger he would do little to exert and which he would forget quickly. Something told her that he was best avoided when his carefully strangled emotions forced themselves free for a mere few seconds.

A slight touch on her left shoulder brought Robyn gently back to the real world. Realising that she had let her mind wander she shook her thoughts away and turned to face the doctor. With slightly tinted cheeks she smiled an apology at him.

Doctor Malone smiled back understandingly for a moment at most but then his smile shifted to one of slight concern.

"What are you doing here so late, Robyn? You should be home, you're father will be worried." Doctor Malone asked holding a hand to Robyn's arm.

Robyn looked down briefly at the mention of the word father before fixing her eyes back on Doctor Malone's, "Kit's here. He was attacked. It's not serious, well it could have been, it was, but he's getting better. He's in pain though, more than he lets on but he won't let me help him and he refuses his medication until they more or less force him to have it."

"That's not good. Look, let me give you a lift home and when I come back I'll talk to him, I promise."

"You don't have to do that,"

"Do what?"

"Give me a ride home."

Doctor Malone shook his head, "Of course I do. How else will you get there? Come along, we ought to get going."

Unable to make any protest to the doctor's kind offer, Robyn walked with him towards the canteen to pick up her crutch. Once she had been reunited with it he led her to the staff exit of the hospital. As they stepped out into the chill night air Robyn regretted not bringing something warmer with her. She could feel her body trembling in an effort to kindle some heat into it while her teeth threatened to chatter. Her discomfort didn't escape the notice of her companion as he turned around to allow her entry to the passenger seat of his car. Once more his brows had knotted into that frown of concern she knew so well, a frown she had seen many times during her time as his patient in both the hospital and the safe house.

"You're cold," He stated with a voice filled with inflections of sympathy, "Here, take my jacket."

As the Doctor began to free himself of his jacket Robyn shook her head, "I can't."

"Of course you can. Here, lean on the car a moment while I take my other arm out. Make sure you don't fall, I won't have you as a patient as well."

Robyn watched as the Doctor removed his remaining arm from his jacket. Opening it up he helped her slip it on. The silk it was lined with was still warm from his body heat and helped to make her feel a little warmer while her body started to generate its own warmth. She smiled her thanks to the Doctor as he helped her into the car. When she was in safely he shut the door and walked around to the driver's side of the car. He was soon inside and had started the engine. After looking around to make sure it was safe to do so he pulled out of his parking space and started on the journey to Lazytown.

The atmosphere inside the car was relaxed, neither person within felt any need to speak nor was their silence uncomfortable. From what she could tell Doctor Malone was a careful driver but was by no means sluggish. He kept a steady pace while being careful to check his mirrors every few seconds to see what was on the road beside him, it was something that was hardly necessary as at time of the night there was no one else on the road. With nothing much more to look at than the interior of the dark car Robyn moved her eyes to the panel on the dashboard behind the steering wheel. It was with slight dismay that she noticed that he was almost low on fuel. She was about to tell him so when it appeared that he had noticed. The look on his face told him that it wasn't a good thing to happen.

"I'll have to pull over. There's no point going on, there's nowhere I can fill the car up that we'll reach before the car runs out. The only thing I can do is take my fuel can and walk to one." Doctor Malone explained bringing the car to a halt.

His voice was filled with impatience that was aimed solely at himself.

Robyn frowned slightly, "What about me? I can't walk very far and certainly not in the dark."

"You'll have to stay here." Doctor Malone replied turning on the light above his head, "Lock all the doors while I'm gone and stay put. I promise I'll try not to be long. We'll get you home, don't worry."

As the Doctor left the car and gathered his fuel can Robyn couldn't help but feel that this was something easier said than done. She was soon to be alone in a car surrounded by darkness in the middle of nowhere. It was hard for her to convince herself that he would be back shortly. As he handed her the keys and said goodbye she felt helpless to stop him.

Before she knew it, he was gone.


	14. Chapter 14

There was something out there. She could feel it. It was something she had felt before. Someone was calling her. Someone wanted her to find them, to give them her undivided attention. She tried to resist but its pull was too strong, its siren's song was snaring her in its lulling power. Without knowing what she was doing, without caring, she had pressed the button on the key fob to unlock the car's doors. It was only a matter of time before she opened the door holding her within the car. It was only a matter of time before she was outside. When she had breached that barrier she would be helpless. There was no escape from that which was hypnotising her. It had become her mind's soul focus. Her body was under its command. As her slim fingers reached for the handle on the door a small corner of her mind told her not to, to stay in the car and fight to ignore whatever was drawing her to it but it wasn't enough. Her hand pulled the handle and the door was open.

All of the warmth in the car evaporated as the cold air outside rushed in but she didn't notice. She couldn't feel either warmth or cold now, she had no feelings. Reaching for her crutch she left the car. Standing now fully outside she turned to where the sensation was coming from, she didn't bother to close the door as started walking towards it. There was nothing to stop her now.

She was free.

Every step she took laid her feet amongst heavily dewed grass. Through the fabric of her shoes her feet were becoming wet but it didn't register in her mind. The only thing that she was aware of was that which was calling her, guiding her through the darkness. Any shred of resistance that might still have been trying to shake its influence on her had been overwhelmed and vanquished as she drew closer to its source. The closer she got the stronger it became. As if by instinct her senses spread themselves wide, they drifted over everything within their range.

In the distance they could feel a structure, a large building filled with people. So many people with so many different thoughts, different voices ringing in her ears. Many of them were jumbled. Their thoughts incoherent, strange, twisted, insane, trying to make sense of what was happening around them, content in a shadow of ignorance, pleading for sanity, screaming for help with mute mouths, throats that filled with laughter pushed out by the cries of others. All of them flooded to her, filled her, repulsed her.

There was a person within those walls, amongst the chaos, she had felt before, they were the source. They were waiting for her, watching out for her through a window streaked with dust from many years of neglect. Their face was emotionless. Only when the dark blue eyes had fallen on her would they show any emotion, any interest in what was around them. The full, tempting lips would curve into a slow, deadly smile while the tongue as sharp as a cut diamond prepared to spit its vile venom in cruel words that would lash their recipient like a stout whip. Right now the voice was occupied in singing a melody, a melody with haunting words that seemed to ripple into her consciousness.

_There was a kind but naïve King  
Who wed a very nasty Queen  
The King was loved but  
The Queen was feared_

A small hill stood as a barrier to the place she was heading. It tried to block her passage but it was conquered as her feet carried her over its muddy, stone ridden surface. Standing at its peak her eyes wandered over the structure ahead of her, she had been here before. A black metal fence ran all the way around it, only two enormous black gates allowed any exit or entry into it. Even from this distance away she could hear the screams of the people inside, she could see hundreds of lights flickering on and off along its high impenetrable walls. Shadows zipped past bare windows and heavy footfalls echoed into the night.

Looking to another part of the building her eyes rested upon a window. Someone stood silhouetted behind it, framed by an ocean of dust that had been brushed aside by a careless hand. She kept her eyes locked on that window as she descended the other side of the hill, nothing could take her eyes away from that person. She knew that they were staring at her too. Only when the object of her vision disappeared from sight did her eyes return to the direction she was walking in. It wasn't long before she was standing in front of the gates, they stood taller than she could see in the inky darkness but they were unlocked. Lifting her hand to the latch she lifted it, with some force she pushed them open.

As if walking on winged feet she glided along the shale path towards the main entrance. Nothing obstructed her, nothing stopped her. Her passage was as impassive as a shadow passing across the sky. No eyes could see her or ears hear her, her footsteps were silent and she was concealed by shadows cast by the moon behind the lofty towers of her destination. When once she had stepped into a pool of silver light she had heard a whisper, a sharp whisper that drew her attention.

There, standing by the western wall was a silhouette. It was motioning to her, beckoning her on. It was the person she had been guided to, the source of that hypnotic tune that had rung in her ears, it was still beckoning her on still further. She moved towards the person, their eyes locked once more in a silent battle of unconscious dominance. Both sought for supremacy, both were tied, locked in deadlock which couldn't be broken.

"Follow me," The figure whispered turning back into the doorway.

Robyn followed, the siren's spell had worn off but she had come too far to turn back. She had to know why she had been brought here, what the person wanted of her. There were questions that needed to be asked, questions that needed to be answered. Whether or not she would get the answers she wanted she didn't know.

After climbing what seemed to be an endless flight of stairs Robyn found herself in a large room. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust, cobwebs hung like nets from the walls and ceilings. From what she could see of the room in the darkness it looked to have been some sort of medical room. Beds were lined up against one wall, sinks were fixed to both ends of the room and even after the total decay of everything within she could still detect a faint scent of disinfectant.

"Why have you brought me here, Lily?" Robyn asked forcing her mother to face her.

"You were born here," Lily replied and pointed towards the beds, "Over there in that bed. Even after all these years I still remember. Almost as soon as you were out of me they took you away. I'm not sure why I didn't strangle you there and then, perhaps that's why they were so fast to have you out of my way. Perhaps if they'd stalled for a few seconds longer…" Lily trailed off.

She didn't have to say any more for Robyn to get her meaning.

"You didn't answer my question." Robyn stated trying to draw her mother back to the present.

"They took you into that room over there. I watched where they put you, they didn't want me to but they were too busy trying to sedate me. You know that after you were born they shut this unit? That idiot Doctor Cranium wanted to keep it a secret, he never wanted to come in here again." Lily continued her story.

Robyn was becoming agitated, "Tell me why I'm here! What has this story got to do with anything?"

"You know, Robyn, sometimes I see a great deal of myself in you. We're not so different you and I, not really. You know, you really do like me, you just don't know that you do."

"How could anyone like a twisted bitch like you?"

Lily laughed out loud at this observation, "Very good, Robyn. There is a spark in you yet."

"I want you to tell me why you brought me here."

"One night, when Doctor Cranium was rather seducible, he forgot to give me my nightly sedative to keep me knocked out. I got out of bed when no one was in the room with me and went to the room they'd put you in. The door was unlocked and there was no one watching you. You were all alone in your little make shift crib, if I'd wanted to there would have been no one around to stop me killing you. Instead I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt, to see if you could become what I wanted you to become. I picked you up and spirited you away from here. It wasn't hard to find you a place to live. I was quite surprised to see that you hadn't stayed there long."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That it wasn't me that dumped you on Robbie's doorstep."

A cloying feeling of dread passed through Robyn, "Then who did?"

"Him. Your father."

There was no denying the truth in those words. It was there, it stabbed her like a thousand knives. She had to leave that place, she had to get as far away as possible as fast as her body would carry her. Without another word or look at her mother she fled.

Instead of smiling at hurting her daughter, Lily looked over at the very same bed that she had given birth to Robyn in. For many moments she stared at it. A single tear slid down her cheek, it was brushed away as quickly as her memories with a brisk shake of her head. As she made her own way down the steep steps her throat was once again filled with song.

_There was a kind but naïve King  
Who wed a very nasty Queen  
The King was loved but  
The Queen was feared_

_AN: Song is Alexia's song from Resident Evil: Code Veronica _


	15. Chapter 15

As soon as he had come within sight of his car he knew that something was wrong, terribly wrong. Nearly throwing down his fuel can he ran to the car, a lump had risen in his throat as his bowels threatened to turn to water. He could see the wide open passenger side door, the keys dropped carelessly onto the ground. The light was still on, its bulb flickering from unusual exertion. His heart was beating in unison with the flickering of the light, each beat coming faster than the last, each one quivering, wrenching and putting painful pressure on his lungs. With sweat running down his forehead he stopped just short of the car. His eyes watered as a feeling of total helplessness overcame him, it made him want to throw himself to the ground in anguish of the decision he had made without thinking over it properly.

There was no one in the car.

He had taken her into his care, he had offered to take her home and return her to the man he continued to think of as her father and he had left her alone to get fuel when he should have either called for help or taken her with him. She had refused him, he knew how poor her mobility was but he could have carried her, it would have been very little effort to do so. Instead he had allowed her the opportunity to either be taken or remove herself from the car. He didn't know which and could by no means bring himself to think of the former for more than a few minutes. It impressed upon him the fact that he would have to notify the police who in turn notify Robbie, which in turn was a thought that turned his nerves to liquid and made his stomach churn as if someone was wringing it with their hands. It was a feeling that clawed its way to his throat and constricted his airway. He was being strangled by guilt, by an extreme panic he couldn't escape from and couldn't shrink from even in the face of the consequences he had placed in front of himself after making that irrational decision.

There he stood, incapable of movement, locked in thought, pained by the sensations gripping his entire body. Light passed over him. A bright, blinding light but he didn't see it. His back was turned against it and even though his eyes detected the glow that had cast his shadow enormous over the ground in front of him he failed to notice its presence. Even the loud bang of a car door being slammed shut did nothing to rouse him from within the shell his panic had locked him. A hand tapped him on the shoulder but he may well have been made of stone for the lack of sensation the touch put upon him. An enquiry towards his health followed by the repeating of the question a moment later fell upon deaf ears. His shoulder was tapped again with much more force but still it did nothing. Only when something tweaked his earlobe painfully was he drawn from his stupor and became aware of the person standing in front of him with their face contorted into an expression of concern. A bashful smile twisted his own face as he looked back at the person with now seeing eyes. He had been blind to them before.

"What's happened, Doctor Malone? You look terrible and you barely noticed me when I was speaking to you." The person asked the concern in their face easing into relief, "I don't know if you remember me, I'm Nurse Kathleen. I was one of the team looking after Robyn when she was in the hospital."

Doctor Malone's face fell at the mention of the name of the person he had lost. A hand raised itself to his temple as the colour drained entirely from his features. He'd been reminded of what he'd done. Now there was someone here, he'd have to tell her what he'd done. She'd ask him what was wrong.

But all was not yet lost, she could help him.

Doctor Malone licked his parched lips, "I remember you, Kathleen. In answer to your question something quite disastrous has happened of a delicate and embarrassing nature."

"Like what?" Kathleen frowned, she could tell by the tone of the Doctor's voice that he wasn't exaggerating when he said something bad had happened.

"There is no easy way to say this," Doctor Malone began, wondering if he should really be doing this, "Robyn was at the hospital tonight, I was en route to taking her home when my car ran out of fuel. I know I should have taken her with me while I went to find a garage but I was foolish in thinking she'd be alright if I left her with the keys so that she could lock herself in until I came back."

Kathleen looked towards the car, "Where is she now?"

Lowering his eyes to the ground and letting out a deep sigh, Doctor Malone shrugged. He just didn't know.

Sportacus clenched and unclenched his hands, he was nervous. He had every right to be. Just one look at Kit had been enough to know that Robyn had told him everything. He could feel Kit's large brown eyes boring into him, burning him from the inside out with razor sharp, red hot daggers.

He didn't know how long those eyes had been fixed on him or how long he'd been in the room. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. For all that time he'd been unable to look Kit in the face or even utter a word. He knew the slightest attempt to speak would be cut off instantly by a harsh verbal onslaught that would rip him to shreds in seconds. It was an attack he was ill prepared to defend himself against. He would barely have a chance to draw a breath as the words battered him into submission. The only thing he could do to prevent such an attack was keep quiet and let Kit make the first move.

It didn't take long for that to happen.

Kit's tone was deceptively light as he spoke, "So what brings _you_ to my humble abode? I wasn't expecting any visitors so late. Shouldn't all good little heroes be in bed by this hour? It's after eight past eight."

"Kit-"

"_WHAT_?" Kit cut in sharply his voice just lower than a shout, "You know you're lucky I'm stuck in this bed because if I wasn't you'd get a smack for what you did to Robyn! What were you thinking? Were you thinking? I mean you couldn't have picked a better bloody time to tell her! Why did you have to choose then? That time? I'd only just got her out of the bloody safe house!"

"Robbie started this, not me." Sportacus replied keeping cool. He didn't want to fuel Kit's anger further.

"At least he told her almost as soon as he knew the results of that test! It didn't take him twenty one godforsaken years to. When were _you_ going to tell her that you were actually her father if you hadn't told her then? When she was thirty? Forty? On your deathbed? What were you going to do, write it in one of her birthday cards? A little message like, '_To Robyn, happy birthday. Love dad_'? Or were you not going to tell her at all?"

Sportacus remained silent. Kit already knew the answer to that question. He didn't have to be told.

"I thought so," Kit grumbled settling himself back down on the bed.

All of the shouting he had done had made his body ache, he wasn't feeling very well and it was something that Sportacus didn't fail to miss when he'd gathered enough courage to spare another glance at him. He could see those icy blue eyes fill with concern as they gazed at him, longing to help him but held back by a wall of sheer fury. There was an understanding in those eyes that seemed to know that the object of their focus required nothing of them except to be left in peace. They seemed to argue amongst themselves before finding a resolution. The eyes closed and the mouth exhaled in resignation before the feet moved the body from the room. A hand pulled the door shut and left Kit completely alone.

Still angry and far from satisfied, Kit turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Something in him didn't feel right as he slowly fell into a doze and then onto sleep where dreams filled his restful mind.


	16. Chapter 16

Her whole body burned with pain, each fibre seemed to be against the other in a battle for supremacy she couldn't stop or understand. Each joint seemed to grate against the other whenever their respective limbs were used. Every step upon her tortured feet brought renewed agony that ripped through her like the tide rips through sand on the shore. Its onslaught was relentless, giving no time for recuperation or preparation for the waves yet to come, just dulling her to the pain of the last. Tears streamed down her tired cheeks from eyes reddened by emotion. Her chest heaved with sobs that sucked more air in to her lungs than she could exhale through her gritted teeth. Exhaustion was beginning to set in. The one foot she could lift fully off of the floor seemed to drag as pulled herself along. Each time she leant on her crutch for support to move her other foot it seemed to dig further into the ground, threatening to topple her, taking away her only means of balance.

It felt as if she was going nowhere, as if she were stuck in a dream where no matter how fast she walked or ran she was always trapped on the same spot, never to move anywhere else again, forever doomed to remain where she was. Even if she had walked miles there was nothing, no point on the horizon to make it seem as if that were the case. All there was in front was darkness, all their was behind was darkness, she was surrounded by a wall of darkness that seemed to be creeping in closer and closer, threatening to suffocate her. As it seemed to grow thicker and thicker in front of her sore, misty eyes anxiety began to grip her.

Shapes flitted past her eyes. Incoherent shadows blended with the blackness around them. In each of those shapes there was a potential to solidify, to show their true form, their silhouettes unmasked. One of them seemed to be transforming each time it threw off its shroud in invisibility, it seemed to be filling the space the other shapes had left behind. It appearances were becoming more frequent as it seemed to take on substance and colour. While it seemed to be dancing around her she kept moving, something told her she had to keep moving, she couldn't stop.

Whatever was following her wanted to hurt her, its intentions were surrounding it like a black cloud. She kept moving, kept pushing against the pain, step after step after agonising step, one after the other, dragging herself along, desperate, no longer crying but trembling with the fear of instinct. Her exhaustion was taken over by adrenaline, it forced her on. It seemed like she was getting away from the shape, from the danger-

Until…

Doctor Malone and Kathleen looked up almost simultaneously at a singular sound that seemed to hurtle through the air towards them and made them stop dead in their tracks. It seemed almost to echo around them for a few brief seconds before dying away leaving behind it a wake of silence.

"What was that?" Kathleen whispered afraid of disturbing a resurgence of the sound.

Doctor Malone took a few steps forward, a step back and then seemed to walk in an elongated circle.

"I don't know," He replied keeping his voice low also, "I'm not even sure what direction it came from. We can't split up to find it, whatever it is, it's too risky."

"It couldn't have come from behind us could it?"

"I hope not." Was the emotionless, doubting reply.

Kathleen was frightened. She wanted to cling to the Doctor for comfort, for support but it was an intrusion on his person she was too embarrassed to make. To be pushed away by him would make things awkward, something she didn't want in the light of the situation. They needed to be able to work together, freely able to rely on the other without difficulty of feeling. Right now the needs of the person that had screamed came before her own and she let her mind work overtime on what the direction of the cry could have been. It had passed so quickly and yet with such agonising slowness. Even now it seemed as if nothing had happened, there was such silence all around them that it seemed almost to blend in with the darkness.

Continuing to look around her in the vain hope that her ears might pick up the trace of the sound, Kathleen was startled slightly when she felt a hand clasp hers. Looking down she could see that the gentle yet shaky grip was not that of a phantom or a similarly repulsive creature but that of the man standing beside her. She took comfort from his touch, a sign that he too was afraid but feeling safe in the knowledge that he wasn't alone. Taking his hand in hers she looked at him as out of the corner of her eyes she saw him turn his head to face her. With a nod she began to walk forward, on a course she hoped would take them to the point of origin of that single scream.

For one heart stopping moment it had been there. He had been there. His presence had overwhelmed her, forcing her to the ground. It had seemed to drown out everything as it pressed itself closer, closer, closer still. She had felt his hot breath on her cheek, smelt his unique scent, felt his rough hands retracing steps long planted in her flesh. He had held her there. A man in limbo, neither spirit nor demon, neither bone, blood nor flesh, as insubstantial as air and yet as strong as concrete. Her heart had pounded as she had crumbled under those memories she had tried to suppress. They had flooded to the fore of her mind like a torrent being released through newly opened flood gates. There was no way to stop it as it swept right through her, devastating everything in its path. It reawakened the patched over memories of her mother's words, that truth that had bored its way right down to her very soul.

Poisoned by grief, overwhelmed by sensations of intense emotions, she failed notice a quite different presence resting somewhere above her. He had gone. Instead there was someone else there. A benevolent spirit that infused calm within her but did not dispel the feelings warring within her. Its palm traced her cheek, its touch soft, gentle. She opened tear reddened eyes, filled with desire to know which apparition wished now to confront her.

Once focussed, her eyes beheld the sight that stood over her. The sun had broken from darkness' hands blazing trails of gold and azure through the whirls of black still left in the sky. In the foreground of that lustrous visage stood that beacon that had called her back from the brink that had calmed her soul in its quaking fires.

"Cain's gone. He won't be coming back," The person above her paused, "Ever."

With a sympathetic smile the person stooped and held out one of his hands. With her good hand, Robyn grasped it. she allowed herself to be lifted into a sitting position and then on to her still tired but slightly relieved feet. All of her shock had fluttered away on the breeze that lifted the ends of her hair as if they were being played with by a hand of invisible fingers. The words had sunk in. She knew that he had gone, that the words were true.

Distant voices echoed through the empty, silent air. Detective Miller's face hovered near her own for a few moments. Moments enough for her to understand that it had been he that had written the note guiding Kit to her. He squeezed her hand once and was gone.

She was left alone, alone with thoughts that dug into her mind like steel barbs. They stabbed her with their poisoned ends inflaming her with renewed grief over the truth of her paternity, the feeling of being tarnished. All peace within her however tenuous was shattered.

A bitter taste formed in her throat that she found hard to swallow.


	17. Chapter 17

Lights overhead flicked past in a game of cat and mouse, each one chasing the other. Their game sent waves of orange rolling through the car. They ran along its roof, one after the other, and disappeared over the back of it. Their antics cast an elongated shadow along both walls lining the sides of the narrow tunnel. It seemed as if the shadows were themselves playing games as one shadow merged into another in a repeated game of leapfrog that never seemed to end. Every so often the shadows would be still but their movements didn't cease for long, their games would quickly be resumed when the opportunity had arisen and the continuing antics of the lights that formed them enticed them to join in. Their energy seemed tireless. Their games didn't end until daylight broke through their proceedings, its radiance shining through the end of the tunnel ahead. For a few brief moments as they passed through that doorway into the rest of the world brightness overcame them, sheer white light entering every crevice of the car and then as quickly as it had come it was gone.

Out in the growing light of day, Kathleen turned off her car's headlights. They were no longer needed and she was glad to be away from the tunnel. She had never driven through it, anxiety of encased spaces with no sign of light where she could be trapped if anything befell her keeping her away from it previously. Once she had seen the end of the tunnel she had been careful not to speed up too much, the tunnel was known for its speed related accidents and mishaps as a result of careless drivers. A slight narrowing of the walls towards the end hadn't escaped her notice and she had subconsciously breathed in as another car passed her going in the opposite direction as she had moved through the exit. Now she was free of those oppressive walls she chanced a glance in her rear view mirror at the person sitting silently and worryingly still on the back seat.

"Do you think she's ok?" Kathleen whispered to Doctor Malone who was sat beside her in the passenger seat.

"I don't know." Doctor Malone replied taking a look for himself in the mirror, "Something happened to make her leave the car, either that or something happened afterwards. I haven't seen her like this since…turn left here."

Kathleen did as she was told. They had reached the edge of town and she followed the road down past a band of trees situated near to the first houses of the still sleeping population. At a further instruction she drove further into the centre of town before slowing down and eventually coming to a stop outside someone's house. Even at that early hour of the morning there seemed to signs that someone within was awake and moving around. Confused as she was at this there was something to arrest her confusion further at the sight of anxiety upon Doctor Malone's face. He was unhappy about something but she didn't ask what. The front door had opened before she'd had a chance to open her mouth. Standing on the threshold was a man she had met before and was glad to see in good health if not wearing a face lined with worry.

Opening his door once he had removed his seat belt, Doctor Malone stepped from the car. He asked Kathleen to keep an eye on Robyn while he spoke with Robbie, there was something he wanted to talk to him about in private and didn't want to do so within the earshot of the two women in the car. It seemed his intention was clearly understood as Robbie stepped aside to let him enter the house when he had approached. He could hear the door closed behind him and feel a pair of eyes looking to his back.

"I'm very sorry, Mr Rotten, I had intended to have Robyn home sooner but…" Doctor Malone began.

"Kathleen told me all of that," Robbie cut in his tone less grave than he wanted, "At least you found her with no harm done."

Doctor Malone lowered his eyes to the ground for a moment, "I'm afraid I don't believe that that's quite the case, Mr Rotten. Physically I think that Robyn is completely fine apart from the problems we already know about, it's her mental state that worries me."

"What's happened?"

"That I don't know. The only thing I know is that I haven't seen her like this since she was in the safe house."

"No, not again!" Robbie exclaimed placing his head in his hands, "If Kit knew…" Robbie trailed off, thoughts of what might happen floated into his mind.

He knew what Kit was like when he was angry. After the last encounter with his temper he was ill prepared for another.

"What have I done?" Robbie moaned at last fearful of having to tell Kit what he was sure his friend would not want to hear.

Doctor Malone was silent. He had to consider his answer carefully. To say the wrong thing, however well meant, could do considerable damage to more than one party. In his objective opinion he believed that Robbie wasn't to blame for his beloved's state of mental health, she had seemed fine in the hospital and being a Doctor of both the mind and body he had accepted that fact. Something had happened to her either in her time in the car or outside of it.

Grateful for being given time to clear his mind a little, Robbie looked up at Doctor Malone, "What are you going to do?"

"The last thing I want to do is admit Robyn back into the safe house. It did her no good. In fact I believe it did her harm. To place her back in that environment would do nothing for her, nothing good. If you're willing to allow her to remain here it is an opinion I will second with no objections on the condition that she is watched at all times."

This offer of Doctor Malone's did much to relieve Robbie's anxiousness over the possibility of having to put Robyn back in the safe house. He was now more anxious about seeing her. He had to know for himself that she was again having problems. It was his fragile but lingering hope that perhaps when he and Robyn were reunited that whatever had happened to her would fade away and she would talk to him, a starting point to her getting better. Taking that resolution into his mind and standing by it he moved towards the door but the sound of a slight 'hem' stalled him. He turned to look at Doctor Malone who seemed to want to talk with him further.

"Just how did Kathleen tell you what happened earlier with Robyn?" Doctor Malone asked his expression riddled with confusion.

Robbie smiled wryly. It was a simple question with an even simpler answer. Kathleen had called him on her car phone while Doctor Malone had been phoning through arrangements to have his car collected by the local garage. His fuel can had cracked when he'd dropped it which had led it to leak all of its precious fluid during the time he had been away from it.

Kathleen sat with Robyn in the back seat of her car. She'd moved from her previous seat to make it easier for them to talk even though for the whole time Robyn had remained totally silent. Each attempt at conversation had bounced off of a wall of silence. She was alarmed to see such a dramatic change in the bubbly, lively girl she had once known. She only wished that she knew what had happened.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a car pull into town that looked like one of those the Hospital used to transport patients back to their homes if they had no way of getting back on their own. She turned her head to watch more fully what was going on. Someone caught her eye that she hoped would bring Robyn out of her shell. She touched the younger woman's hand gently to waken her from her thoughts before pointing towards the car.

Having managed to get Robyn's attention, Kathleen proceeded to explain. "Look who's just arrived back home, your Uncle Sportacus."

Undoing her seat belt Robyn left the car before Kathleen could do anything to stop her. She had seen a look in the younger woman's eyes that had told her that something bad had transpired between niece and uncle that she had just ignited. Wasting no time she sprung from the car and ran over to the front door of the house.

Something told her that she would need assistance if she was going to stop Robyn.


	18. Chapter 18

A pestilent anger began to brew within her, tapped by the sharp point of her father's sin. It bubbled within her, released from its holdings. Inch by inch it pulled itself upwards like magma threatening to spew from an erupting volcano. Her blue eyes burned with white heat as she stared at him with almost unseeing eyes. Her legs seemed to move more steadily than they had done in months, pulled on by a depth of sheer fury unlike any that had ever surfaced within her before. Her mother's words reverberated through her head becoming louder and louder the closer she came to him. They were joined in their chorus by two words she had heard once before, words she could also hear in her mother's voice but a voice which was beginning slowly to alter. It deepened, the accent hardened, it softened. It became a voice she knew well, a voice she could hear echoing in her ears as it spoke to her.

She blinked her eyes, it was there. He was there. His hand was on her arm, she had stopped walking. The storm within her still raged, it hungered to be released, to be unleashed with all the power it possessed. It scratched away at her like a hungry animal, wild beyond hope of ever being civilised or tamed. The words rose to fever pitch, they screamed into her ears, deafening her to that voice speaking to her. She could see the mouth opening and closing but the words were nothing but silence. A strange smile passed fleetingly across her features as she marvelled at how like a dummy he looked. Cocking her head to one side she wondered if he were a dummy that could feel pain.

Through the thunder that still rumbled in her ears she began to hear snatches of his words and her expression hardened once more. Spite made her hate the dummy even more, she wanted it to be quiet but it wouldn't stop talking. Its words made no sense to her. It seemed to jabber on incessantly.

She could hear those words again in that voice, his voice. They rallied her fury, it began to gather pace. Her blood began to boil. All of a sudden the words became clear, they were making sense but they still continued. She wanted him to be quiet but the words wouldn't stop. Her arms lifted themselves up, her hands clamped to her ears but she could still hear his voice, hear those words. She ripped her hands from her ears, knocking his hand from her arm. She could feel his words in her mouth. They tasted bitter. She had to be rid of them. Her fury was past the last barrier.

"Keep it! Keep it! Keep it!" She screamed. Her fist clenched, it connected with his jaw with a blow that sent him sprawling to the ground.

Her anger still not appeased she wanted more, she wanted to hurt him as he had hurt her but something grabbed her, restraining her. Voices were calling out to her but she couldn't hear them, all she could hear was his words. She wanted to move forward but she was being pulled backwards. Her fury spiked again, she began to kick out. She had to be free. The arms holding her refused to let go, the voices continued to shout. Raging against her entrapment she demanded to be free.

A sharp pinching feeling in her neck halted her movements. Lethargy began to calm her senses. It quelled her hunger for vengeance. Her eye lids began to feel heavy as she fought to stay awake. Time seemed almost to stand still as she felt the arms loosen their grip on her. She could feel herself falling slowly through the air as they lowered her gently down to come to a rest on a soft bed of blankets. No longer did she wish to do harm, all she wanted to do now was rest.

Ziggy stood back from the bed. The change in the woman lying upon it was drastic beyond words. He'd never seen her like that before. He'd been scared of what he'd witnessed, for a few moments she wasn't the person he'd known since childhood, she hadn't been the woman he'd once loved and still did have deep feelings for. She'd been a stranger, a fiend with incredible strength despite her obvious disabilities. Three men had had to hold her back, three men had almost failed. As what had occurred what seemed seconds ago flashed through his mind, Ziggy wondered what might have happened if they hadn't been able to hold her and she'd gone to attack Sportacus once again. A cold shudder ran through him at the thought, it was too horrible to raise in his mind's eye again.

He'd tried to work out what had happened to make Robyn attack one of the men she loved most in the world in that fashion. None of the possibilities his imagination could propose seemed to fit in with what he had seen. It didn't make sense. Even though he'd had nearly nothing to do with the family since seriously injuring Robyn in a jealous rage he'd been keeping his eyes and ears open but hadn't been aware of anything serious happening between the two. He'd watched Robyn strike Ellen, another act which had confused him, and hadn't seen Ellen around town in a while. When he thought about it more it didn't seem to make as much sense as he'd thought.

Lifting his head he tried to find an answer in Robbie's down turned face but there was none, he didn't know either. He could see that Robbie wanted to hold his daughter's hand but he seemed almost scared to touch her, scared of what she had done. He was fighting a battle that raged silently inside himself, a struggle he seemed to want to win but didn't know how. With his companion engaged with himself in such a manner as assisting him in making his exit, Ziggy decided it was best to leave.

"What happened to her?" A voice asked him as he turned to go.

Ziggy stopped in his tracks and moved back to see Robbie looking at him.

He was about to reply when Robbie continued, "She was never like this, she never would have done anything like this. I don't know what's gone wrong, I try to work it out but I still don't know. One minute it's like she's normal, like there's nothing wrong and the next…"

Robbie trailed off evidently unable to find any other words by which to express himself. After several minutes had elapsed in silence, Ziggy made another attempt to make his leave but again the voice pulled him back.

"Thanks," Robbie said forcing a smile, "You didn't have to help you know."

Ziggy shook his head, "I did. I couldn't just turn a blind eye. Despite what's happened Robyn still means a lot to me, I know that's not something you really want to hear but it's the way I feel."

"I know. As far as I'm aware Robyn knows too."

"Is she still mad at me for what I did?"

This question prompted a shrug from Robbie, "I don't know. She's not mentioned it since it happened, not to me anyway, I'm not even sure she's talked about it with Kit."

"How is Kit? I heard the news. Is he ok?"

"As far as I know he's holding up ok. I was planning on calling him later but after this…what do I tell him? If I tell him nothing he'll find out when he comes back and will have my guts for his bootlaces and if I tell him the truth he won't spend another minute in that hospital when that's the place he needs to be. What am I going to do? What can I do?"

Ziggy watched as Robbie sat down on the edge of the bed. He seemed to have won his silent war as he clasped Robyn's hand firmly in both of his. Sensing that their short and neutral discourse was over, Ziggy turned to leave once more. This time nothing stopped him as he left the room and descended the stairs. When he reached the living room he knew with almost flawless familiarity, he paused a moment. It had been a long time since he'd been in this room, since he'd had an opportunity to come near the house he had visited daily as a child. He had a lot of memories here, each of them tarnished by the despicable thing he had done. A thing he wanted to try to make amends for and there was one way that presented itself to his mind.

Pushing back all of the thoughts that tried to fill his mind he left the room and sought the Doctor. He needed a ride out of town.


	19. Chapter 19

He could feel his heart beating strongly in his throat. His intestines were beginning to tie themselves in knots as his mind confirmed to him what he was going to do. He knew he shouldn't be here, that he was walking right into the lion's den, a sacrificial lamb lining himself up for the slaughter with open arms but he knew he had to do this. No matter what was said, no matter what happened he had to do this, there was no turning back. He'd come this far and he had to go through with what he'd planned. If he turned back now he would fail himself and those he was trying so hard to help. It didn't matter whether they appreciated his help or not, he just had to know that he'd done something. Raising his hand to knock on the door he had come level with in the wide, quiet corridor he saw that it was trembling. An outside indicator of what he was feeling inside. He lowered his hand a moment, taking in a deep breath to stop the shaking, and when he felt ready to try once more.

A grumble from the other side of the door told him to enter. As he pulled down the handle he could feel the tremor returning to his hands. It was too late to go back now even if he had wanted to. The door was open, he'd stepped through. He'd been seen. Keeping his eyes to the ground he closed the door, he was ready to look into those eyes, to see that face, he shuddered to think of speaking in fear of what would be said to him.

"What is this? Unwelcome visitor day? First Sportacus comes in and now you." Kit asked all and none.

Ziggy dared to look up at his reluctant host, "Robbie would have come himself but he couldn't. I'm here because of Robyn."

"What have you done to her now!" Kit snapped, angry at any possible negative involvement Ziggy had had with his love, "If you've laid one finger on her I swear-"

"I haven't touched her. Alright, maybe I did but I had no choice. If you hear me out instead of trying to find any gap you can to jump in and threaten me you might find out why."

Sulking like a child who had had his favourite toy taken away from him, Kit sat back on his pillows and folded his arms, allowing Ziggy to proceed.

"Thank you," Ziggy said before continuing, "I don't know what's been going on between Robyn and Sportacus recently and I don't want to know but something happened in town. I was out taking a walk to find my favourite lollipop, which I'd managed to misplace earlier, it was all yellow and blue, not my usual flavour but it was new and on sale so I thought I'd try it and it was sweet and I liked it but it must have fallen out of my pocket and landed on the ground somewhere while I was walking home and I wanted to go back and find it-"

"Ziggy," Kit interrupted a smile on his face reminiscent of earlier times in their friendship and his voice in a tone long unused, "Back to the point please."

"Oh, sorry, well, I saw Sportacus getting out of a car and expected Robyn to be there to greet him so I looked for her. Eventually I spotted her walking towards him but I could tell that there wasn't something right with her. She looked mad, really mad. She also didn't seem to be all there, like there was really something on her mind that she couldn't get rid of. Anyway, she stopped in front of Sportacus and I knew that something bad was going to happen. I could see Robbie and Doctor Malone running up, at first I didn't know why but by the looks on their faces I could tell they knew something was about to kick off and it did. Sportacus must have said something to Robyn that she didn't like and she shouted at him, something like 'keep it' and then she…she-"

"She what, Ziggy?"

"She punched him, knocked him over. She was going to go for him but I ran over and grabbed her, all three of us did; Robbie, the Doctor and me."

Kit's smile faded into a frown. His deep brown eyes read Ziggy's face like an open book and painted a picture that illustrated just what had happened as a result of that. Indignation began to spark in his belly but he subdued its taunting heat, there was more he wanted to know before he acted. Once he knew the answers he would allow nothing to stop him on the path he chose to follow.

"Why didn't Robbie tell me this himself?" He asked keeping his tone deceptively level.

"He would have but he was afraid of what you would say to him. He doesn't want you upset."

Kit laughed momentarily, harshly. "Lovely! Well it's a bit late for that! Thanks very much, Ziggy, now if you don't mind,"

Ziggy watched as Kit sat himself up in bed. It became very quickly evident what was about to happen and he knew that it was something he couldn't allow to transpire. Not knowing what else to do and not willing to take the risk of leaving Kit alone he moved to stand in the way. This was evidently a bad move as Kit shot him a black look that made the tremble return to his hands and journey down to his knees, something that wasn't missed by the person he was trying so hard to stand up to.

"Are you frightened of me, Ziggy?" The question was simple and right on the target.

Ziggy shook his head, "No,"

"It doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting. You couldn't be shaking more if you saw Bessie in a mini skirt and bikini top. What have I ever done to frighten you? I've never laid a finger on you, never. I won't deny I've wanted to and could have done on one particular occasion you know well about but I didn't."

"Only because Robyn told you not to."

It was Kit's turn to shake his head, "Robyn said nothing of the sort. Don't look so surprised, after what you did she was more than happy for me to go over to your house and give you a damn good slap."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I'll level with you, Ziggy," Kit's visage became grave, "And this doesn't make us friends because what you did was unforgivable, you hurt Robyn and you crossed the line. I didn't hit you and I'm only doing this because you know what it's like to love her. To want to do anything for her, even trying to stop the world with your bare hands and make it turn the other way to see her smile, despite how impossible it may seem. And you know what it's like to lose her. You're a better man than me for coming through it, I couldn't. If I lost her it would kill me and I've come close enough to losing her to know that. Now you know why I do everything I can to take care of her, to be there for her when she needs me. Now you know why I'm going to get out of this bed and out of this hospital whether you're standing in the way of me or not. Get out of my way, Ziggy, or I'll make you get out of my way."

"I don't think you could if you wanted to. You're hurting, Kit, I can see it."

"I might be down but I'm not beaten. I'm getting out of here, Ziggy, whether you like it or not."

It took a few moments for Ziggy to respond, he seemed to be forming his answer in his mind, "Then let me help you."

"Why?" Kit's brown creased in a frown of confusion.

"Because I know what it's like to love Robyn and if I was in your place I'd probably feel the same."

A smile brushed Kit's lips and he offered his hand to Ziggy who took it and helped him to stand up. Once Kit was upright and had gained his balance he looped his arm over his shoulder bracing the slightly younger man against him. When he was satisfied that Kit was ready to move he started walking. Kit felt stiff but made little in the way of indicating it or the pain he felt, he tried to ignore it for Robyn's sake. He had to know what was happening back in town.

Both men stopped dead in their tracks when the door opened before Ziggy had had a chance to lift his hand to the handle and revealed a rather stern looking Doctor Cole behind who stood Doctor Malone.

"Where do you think you're going?" Doctor Cole asked looking squarely at Kit.

Kit met the Doctor's gaze, "Home. I'm sure Doc Malone's told you why."

"He has." Doctor Cole sighed briefly, "Go on."

"What?"

"Go, before I change my mind. Rory, make sure they get there and that Kathleen gets home."

Doctor Malone looked rather shocked but held his tongue, "I will." Was all he said.

With this agreement Doctor Cole stood aside to let Kit and Ziggy pass. Kit smiled his thanks and had almost passed the Doctor when he felt the man's hand brush his arm.

"You can stay home for the time being, I'll be along in the morning to check on you and her."

"Thanks, Doc."

Kit turned to go but paused. Looking at the Doctor once more he released his arm from around Ziggy's shoulder and hugged the man. This seemed to rather surprise the Doctor but he returned the hug after overcoming that. When Kit had let him go he smiled and bending over whispered in Kit's ear.

"Put your bum away, you're scaring the public."

Frowning a little with puzzlement Kit craned his neck to see what the Doctor meant and noticed that his gown had flopped open at the back to the view of several nurses and patients walking around the ward. Doing what came naturally to him, Kit laughed. With one of his hands he held his gown shut while with his other he gripped Ziggy's shoulder.

Nodding at both Doctors, Kit signalled to Ziggy that they should start moving. They were on their way home.


	20. Chapter 20

Robbie paced the living room floor uneasily. His brow was contorted by a worry he could neither explain nor express either to himself in words or to other people that he feared would think him foolish in his supposition and would question his grip on reality. It twisted and turned inside him, gripping him with cold, iron fingers that dug in nails he couldn't remove or cut down. Only once before had he felt such sickening anxiety, such gnawing doubt, and that time had taught him that it was an experience he didn't wish to repeat, unfortunately no choice was laid before him as was no power to fight back the thoughts that were agonising his mind.

Each time he sat down they would drown him, if he stood and to try to shake them away they would pursue him. There was no escape, no solace from their deafening clamour. He wanted to yell until they were drowned out by his own noise but he didn't want to disturb her, he couldn't.

It was an idea he couldn't hold in his mind. In truth, it was a thought that scared him.

Almost as soon as Robyn had woken up from the sedation she'd been put under by Doctor Malone to halt her violent rage and prevent herself harming anyone else he'd know that something wasn't right with her. There had been something in her eyes that had made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. In those deep blue depths he'd seen a light in them he'd never seen before, a light that shouldn't have been there in the view of her wearied mind.

It searched him like he was a total stranger, it seemed to judge him. Under this obscure scrutiny he had felt his forehead become damp with nervous sweat, a similar sweat had wetted his hand and its clamminess forced it to be released from the careless fingers that held it. The eyes seemed to scorn him as they met with his own once more. For the briefest of moments the lips of the gentle mouth he knew parted as if to loose some sound but they closed just as quickly. Seeming disinterested in his presence Robyn turned over and buried her head in the pillow. Feeling wracked by disquiet he quickly got up and left the room.

Since that moment he had waited for someone, for something but he didn't know who or what that was. Many a time he had had his hand rested on the receiver of the phone challenging himself to pick it up and call the number that circulated in his head but he hadn't been able to push himself that far, it was a step he knew he might end up regretting taking and so he abstained. More than once he'd wanted to appeal to his friends but his fear of what they might consider of him prevented him. Faced with this dilemma he had taken to pacing the floor. It was all he could do.

It was in this state that Kit found him.

Faas stepped out from the Mayor's house and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. He had been at the house with his team longer than expected but the couple's hospitality had more than sustained their needs.

As he walked further from the house a strange sadness struck him. He didn't know from whence it had come but he had an idea of the cause of it. Looking around the town he admired its simple beauty, its brightness. It was like many other towns he had visited before either on business or on the short amount of leave he got every year but it had a charm to it that he'd not seen before. Unusual as it was he felt that it would be harder to leave this town than it had been for him to leave any other. He admired its people, at least those he had seen and wanted to find some way to prolong his stay here. To see more and discover more of the people would make him happy but he knew that this was another occasion that his desires would go unfurnished. He was here to work and today was the day he was due to leave. A convoy was coming to remove the damaged airship and take him and his team home. From there would come days if not weeks of more intensive tests into what happened and numerous reports filled with the details and then there was also the bother of arranging a new airship to be sent to the poor, stranded hero whose home had been obliterated.

He noticed that such hero wandering around not so far off from where he had paused to allow his musings the full capacity of his brain.

"Number 10!" He called hoping to get the man's attention.

Sportacus turned at hearing his name. He saw Faas waving at him but did nothing to return either the man's greeting or his welcoming smile. Instead he continued walking, ignoring any attempt for his attention to be gained. He wasn't in the mood for company or questions, all he wanted to do was find somewhere he could lick his wounds in peace and try to work out what he could do next with his shattered relationship with his daughter. The only thing he could be glad of was that her attack on him had happened too early in the morning to attract any witnesses and that it seemed that many of the townsfolk were still ignorant of Robyn's true paternity.

Something made him weary though, the possibility of Kit finding out what he had done all of those years ago and seeking him out to make him pay. There had to be somewhere he could seek shelter.

It was then that he looked up at the sky and noticed the familiar shape of his parent's airship.

Standing outside of the bedroom door, Kit listened carefully for any sounds coming from the room beyond. All seemed quiet within but he couldn't be sure whether she was still asleep or had woken. His hand was rested on the handle ready to enter but he abstained. Questions were asking themselves in his mind, questions he was reluctant to find the answer for. He knew that eventually he would have to cross the threshold of that room. He knew that he was being foolish by waiting for something that wouldn't happen but had no idea why he was feeling almost afraid to do what was so simple. Annoyed at himself and his stupidity he pushed down the handle and opened the door. Sighing involuntarily with relief he entered the room.

Looking about his trappings he noticed his beloved sitting in front of the mirror. She was watching him in its reflection, a strange smile curving the corners of her mouth. He didn't return the smile. He didn't know what kind it was and how it would be received if he chose the wrong one. As he studied her he noticed there was something very different about her, something it took him a very short amount of time to realise.

She'd cut her hair. It was now just short of her shoulders in length.

"Robyn, what have you done?" He asked his voice wavering with shock as he looked down at the tresses surrounding her on the floor.

"Nothing much. I just fancied a change." Robyn replied her smile still shining in the mirror.

"But you never…you always liked your hair long. Isn't this a little extreme?"

"No," Robyn shrugged with indifference as if what she'd done was perfectly normal, "This is extreme."

Kit watched in horror as Robyn cut into her hair with the pair of scissors that had already done so much damage to it. One, perhaps two inches had come away after the fresh attack and she lifted the scissors to inflict another jagged cut into her light brown locks when Kit held her hand firmly in his.

"Robyn, stop that!" He exclaimed seizing the scissors and throwing them on the bed, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to. Don't you always do things that you want? What if it's my turn?"

"What are you talking about? You can do what you want but this…this isn't normal."

"Why?"

"Because it's not. This isn't you Robyn."

Robyn's smile faded, "Then what is? What is me, Kit? Who am I? Do you know because I don't?"

The answers to those questions seemed so simple but Kit couldn't answer them. He couldn't think of a way to begin to even scratch the surface.

"Exactly," Robyn continued, "Now if you don't mind, I have things I want to do and you're in the way."

"And what exactly are these things?"

"None of your business! Go away and leave me alone!" Robyn shouted.

Surprised and wounded by Robyn's defensiveness, Kit got up from where he had been kneeling. He was about to say something but stopped himself, it didn't seem worth it to waste his breath on ears that wouldn't listen. As he left the room he paused by the bed to remove the scissors. He didn't want to know what she would do with them if he left them with her.

As he walked towards the door he heard ten words that formed a strong feeling of foreboding in the pit of his stomach.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out."


	21. Chapter 21

Pausing before shutting the door just briefly, Kit contemplated slamming it. He was angry and hurt but his hurt overcame his anger and he sloped away letting the door shut quietly behind him. With leaden steps he sought his way downstairs away from that room and its sheltered mistress. He was torn. He knew that he'd had to leave her and that ultimately he'd wanted to after what she'd said to him but he didn't know if it was the right thing to do. Looking down at the scissors in his open hand he wondered what else she might have done with them if he hadn't come into the room, or what she could do if he'd left them with her. There had been something unstable about her that he hadn't liked and until he knew what that was he didn't want to take any chances. He stopped in the middle of the stairs trying to decide whether to return or leave her to herself and the things she had said she wanted to do. Neither option seemed right or clean cut. If he left her he didn't know what she was doing alone in the room and if he went back there was a possibility that it would aggravate her and do more harm to her.

He didn't know what to do.

Setting a decision in his mind he climbed the stairs again and entered Robbie's old bedroom. It hadn't been used much since the winter Sportacus had spent with them as its tenant had gone back to sleeping in his chair. Sitting on the bed he reached over for the phone on the night stand and dialled a number as familiar to himself as his own name.

There had to be an answer somewhere.

The phone rang a couple of times before it was answered, the voice on the other end was the one he sought and after a brief greeting he explained what had been going on. A pause had succeeded, after that a promise was made and then the line clicked into silence. Hanging up the phone on his end, Kit laid back on the bed. His body was aching terribly. His bruises still resisted every movement he made as his skin and muscles stretched and contracted. Every now and then he would feel a sharp pang from the worst affected areas of his body that would steal his breath for an instant but he had learnt to hide that.

Tilting his head back on the pillows he listened out for any sounds filtering through the wall to try and ascertain what she was doing. As he listened carefully, straining his ears, he heard faint strains of music playing from their stereo. From what he could hear the song playing was one that Robyn had never professed to like, it was a track from one of his CDs that was more to his taste of music, rock. Just below the rough voice of the artist he could hear another, a softer voice, the voice of a female. She was singing along. This confused him and he couldn't understand it. She'd never sung along before, it was true that she'd tolerate his music because he'd do the same for hers but never had he heard her sing along to any of his songs. It was very strange.

He was almost tempted to go into the room again but he let that slip as he contented himself with keeping a comfortable and most likely safe distance. It was unlikely that she knew he was there and if she did he knew her well enough to know that she would have done something about it already. But as he thought more about it he couldn't say that he knew her now, something had changed in her. Never before had she pushed him away, not like that and never had he known her to act so coldly to Robbie. It was completely out of character for her and it scared him.

What had happened to her?

Only one man could know the answer and he waited for his arrival. He thought it better done downstairs, it would offer him a chance to ask questions and speak in confidence without the risk of being overheard by ears he didn't want listening. Getting up from the bed he once again descended the stairs and this time went straight down. Once in the living room he sat himself down on the sofa.

"Well?" The enquiry greeted him.

Kit looked over at Robbie, "It's not good. She's been playing hairdresser."

"Hairdresser?" Robbie asked and then realised what was meant by the word, "No."

"Yes. I tried asking her what was wrong but she yelled at me, told me to get out."

"I heard. What could be the matter with her? First she's punching Sportacus and the next she's yelling at you."

With a shrug, Kit got up. "I don't know but I might know where I can find out."

Kit walked over to the door and opened it only to see Doctor Malone standing on the other side with his hand raised ready to knock. He raised his eyebrows in slight surprise at the man's speed in getting to them but let him in. For the time being he shelved his intention of going out to see a man he dearly wanted to talk to and closed the door. There were more important matters to be taken care of here first.

"So Robyn's been acting strangely." Doctor Malone stated taking a seat at Robbie's invitation.

"Very strangely." Robbie replied, "I take it Kit called you here."

"He did and it's a good thing too. From the sounds of it we have a situation on our hands and one I hope we can fix."

"Do you know it may have caused it?" Kit asked sitting down on the coffee table.

"I don't know. Something must have happened to her either while she was in my car or outside of it."

Kit's look turned dark, "What?" He demanded.

For a few moments Robbie looked flustered while the Doctor looked anxious. Neither had mentioned anything to Kit of what had happened a few hours before and now it seemed they had no choice. Looking at one another they made a silent decision, Robbie explained what had happened. For his part, Kit seemed to take the news calmly but both men could see anger bubbling just beneath the surface. When Robbie had finished he allowed Kit time to speak.

And Kit did so, he turned to Doctor Malone. "So you left Robyn alone in your car, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, knowing full well that the person who attacked me could still be out there, is probably out there?"

"He left her the keys to lock herself in," Robbie cut in trying to cool his friend's ire. "He didn't make Robyn leave the car."

"But he left her alone and something obviously happened. No wonder she's gone off her bleeding trolley!"

Doctor Malone shook his head, "We don't know that, yet. If you're willing to let me stay I can go upstairs and ask her a few questions to see if I can find any indication of what's happened and in what kind of mental state she's in."

"I don't have much choice but to let you see her," Kit replied in a calmer tone, "You know your stuff psychologically and you know her from before. Just promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"That you won't send her back there. I can't see her like that again."

An understanding smile spread itself on Doctor Malone's chiselled lips, "I'll try my best but you know I can't make any guarantees. If I can avoid re-admitting her I will, if I can't…"

Kit nodded. He didn't need to hear the rest.


	22. Chapter 22

The sweet scent of burning incense pervaded his nostrils as he reached the top of the stairs and entered onto the hallway. Only one room out of the three was occupied, only one door of the three was closed and he knew to which he had to turn his attentions. His steps upon the carpet were nearly silent as he walked in that direction. A slight feeling of apprehension assaulted him as he drew nearer to the room it was his promise to enter, not knowing what was on the other side of that door was beginning to play on his mind. From what he'd been told he knew the problem to be more severe than he had first thought and knew that he had to tread carefully in order to disturb her no more. As he drew closer to the door he hoped that gaining access to the room would be easy, if he faced any resistance his options would be very limited. He could either argue with her until she let him in or leave her be, the second option was the most likely choice but he would set nothing in stone until he knew the nature of the situation facing him.

Standing now in front of the door he knocked upon it softly. There was a sound of rushed movement within and then silence. Counting to ten he knocked on the door once more, this time she seemed to have taken notice, the door opened.

"What do you want?" Robyn asked impatiently one hand on her hip the other rested upon the door handle.

"I wondered if I could come in."

"Why?"

Doctor Malone remained the effigy of patience, "Because I've heard you've not been feeling well. I want to help you."

"I don't want your help, leave me alone." Robyn replied and started to shut the door but found the Doctor's foot obstructing it.

"If you let me come in I'll leave you alone. All I want to do is sit with you, nothing more."

There was silence. Robyn was thinking. Turning over what he had said in her mind she considered that perhaps she could allow him into the room as long as he stood by his promise to leave her alone while she continued in her occupations. Seeing that this would work to her advantage and that there was every possibility that he would get bored and extract himself from the room within a short period of time if she ignored him long enough, she let him in. Besides, she knew that there was very little choice in the way of sending him on his way as she couldn't shut the door while his foot was still blocking it.

With an inward smile Doctor Malone walked past Robyn and into the bedroom. He stood in the centre of the room waiting for an invitation to sit wherever she chose to put him. He hoped that it wouldn't be anywhere too out of the way. He wanted to be able to observe her, to see what she did. When she had shut the door she pointed to the bed, he obediently sat on its edge. He watched as she walked across the room and resumed her seat by the mirror, he could hoped for her to position her in a better place despite the fact that she could watch him just as easily as he could watch her.

And she was watching him now.

Sportacus climbed the ladder to his parents' airship slowly, his hands touching every rung, feeling them as he had done when he was a child. Each time he pulled himself closer to the top he looked upwards, every time he gazed upon the shining underbelly of the airship he felt the strains of nostalgia tugging at the edge of his mind. Many a time as a young boy his father had carried him up the steep ladder when his legs had been to short and his arms too weak for him to pull himself up. Other times he had lain flat on his back on the ground looking skyward when he had been allowed out to play amongst the shadowed confines of what floated almost perilously above him. Now he was grown, a man, no longer a child, with responsibilities and once a home of his own. Now he was returning home, to see his father who would ask him about why his lower jaw was bruised and his mother who would fuss and try to make it better.

He was sure he could handle his father's piercing gaze and his questions but to face his mother and try to reassure her that his jaw wasn't as painful as it looked, or as serious, wouldn't be so easy. It had been a long time since he'd seen her, his father had come to him after he'd returned from Kit's room to say that he was going back.

"Son, what a nice surprise." Sportacus heard his father say when he reached the last limits of the ladder.

Looking up Sportacus saw his father gazing at him through the ladder hatch, "Hi, dad, I thought I'd pay you and mum a visit."

Nine nodded and disappeared from the hatch. His voice could be heard in the tones deeper than those of his son as he told his wife they had a visitor. A gentle voice was heard sounding a reply of slight surprise followed by the falls of rapid footsteps and the sound of things being moved about. Sportacus smiled, his mother was cleaning up. He slowed his pace in order to allow her time enough to make the airship look even more presentable than she always kept it.

Two minutes passed before he had reached the top of the ladder and climbed into the airship. He could see his parents looking at him out of the corner of his eye as he kept his head slightly bowed, trying his best to hide his bruised jaw from them. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret long, even now his mother was walking towards him, her arms open wide to embrace her only son, arms that hadn't embraced their daughter for many a year. The arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders and the lips that bent to kiss him drew back before making contact, the arms tightened. The game was up. His bruise had been seen.

"Son, what happened to you? Your jaw…" Yuliya paused unable to say any more.

Sportacus nodded and tears began to sting his eyes, "Robyn, Robyn did this."

Shaking her head, Yuliya wrapped her arms tighter around her son and held him as he fought desperately against the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Slowly and carefully she turned her head to look at her husband, there was an expression upon his face that she didn't like.

In an attempt to shake away the eyes that seemed to burrow into him he looked around the room. There were only a few times when he had been here but never had he had a chance to study his surroundings. As he glanced from one part of the room to another he could see an obvious trace of femininity running through the theme of decoration. On one side there was a clear masculine presence that complimented its superior and worked in harmony to create a pleasant atmosphere that encouraged relaxation within its four walls.

Having taken some respite from the eyes he looked back towards the mirror, they were still watching him. They're depths not missing a single movement that he made, it seemed as if they were reading every thought that entered his mind but he dismissed it. It couldn't be true, he was just being paranoid.

"Tell me," Doctor Malone began, breaking his vow of silence, "What do you see when you look into that mirror?"

Robyn turned her eyes from the Doctor's reflection to her own, "I see me. I see a scar that will never heal. I see a face forever tarnished. I see myself and it is ugly to the core. Did my heart turn with my face or is this just the expression of what always lay within? It doesn't matter. It is me."

Doctor Malone didn't answer, he couldn't.


	23. Chapter 23

Several long minutes of silence had passed almost without notice. Neither look nor word had been shared between the two people in the room. Each was focussed on themselves, one trying to decipher what they would do next and the other waiting for a move to be made. When no opportunity was forthcoming the second sought out an advantage, something to use to break the silence and they found it.

"You're frightened." Robyn's voice was low, dangerous.

Doctor Malone sat up, "Why would I be afraid?"

"Because you're out of your depth, you don't know why this is happening or how it happened. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"And what am I dealing with?"

"You tell me, you're the head Doctor."

Once more Doctor Malone fell quiet. His tongue was once more silenced by his interlocutor. It seemed as if he had long outstayed his welcome in the room but he wasn't about to leave. There was still more to be done. He had come to help a young woman who needed it and he wasn't going to let her or her family down.

Returning his eyes to the mirror to look upon the young woman he had been looking at out of the corner of his eye, he found them drawn by those that gazed at him through the glass. They seemed to fill his own, magnifying, intensifying every thought that formed in his mind. It was as if she were reading them, digesting them, and that she had found something she didn't like through her exploration. Her eyes darkened and her smile faded as her gaze seemed to penetrate him further.

"Tell me what happened to you last night." His voice shook the silence from the room and moved the eyes from him for the briefest of moments.

Robyn smiled sardonically, "That's easy. I was left in a car in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night by an incompetent…Doctor."

"I mean after that. You must have walked somewhere, been somewhere. Did you encounter someone? Something had to have happened to you, Robyn, we heard you scream."

Robyn was silent. Her eyes was downcast, her expression stony. She had turned to face him but refused to meet his eyes. As he viewed her he wondered why she refused to mention anything of that night. Something had happened to her, he knew, and it was something bad. He knew her, he knew her personality, he had seen her at her lowest point, he knew of her emotional instability and yet the speed with which she had altered worried him. In all of the patients he had dealt with he had never seen anything like this, not even in the extremest of cases.

He had to make her talk.

He rose from the bed and stood just behind her. "Tell me or tell Kit. Tell someone what happened to you. Whatever it is we can help. I can help."

"You help? A Doctor who works with patients that have mental health problems and tries to solve them when he can't deal with his own? You can't stand a phone ringing for more than a minute. You're beeper gets silenced the moment it goes off because you can't stand to hear it or ignore it. Just like now."

As if on cue the Doctor's bleeper sounded. He began to reach for it to silence it but his hand was beaten by another, Robyn's hand. Shaken by this sudden act he tried to get it back from her but she held it behind her back.

"Robyn, give it to me." Doctor Malone's voice was hoarse.

Robyn shook her head, "No."

"Please!"

"Why? It's just a little thing. If you really wanted it you'd come and get it. It's as simple as that."

There was no argument Doctor Malone could formulate, he wanted his bleeper but couldn't take it by force.

He was helpless.

A cold sweat began to bead on his forehead. Beneath his skin he could feel his heart beat quickening as panic began to take hold. His breath stopped short as his lungs shuddered to a halt. Gulping like a fish out of water he was drawing in gasps of air not large enough to sustain him. It felt as if she had wrapped her hands about his neck and were squeezing his throat. His hands reached up to join them, to try to pull away the invisible fingers that dug into his flesh. He could see darkness beginning to creep into the corners of his eyes as he began to sink to his knees.

As quickly as the darkness came, it vanished.

His heart thundered against his ribs as he ripped his eyes from his tormentor. Every fibre told him to leave the room. Forcing himself onto his feet he staggered towards the door. Laying a sweaty, shaking hand upon the handle he pulled it open. He had barely closed the door behind him when he collapsed against it drawing in great lungfuls of air. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a silken handkerchief and mopped his sweat covered brow.

Gaining his feet once more he made his retreat down the stairs, ignoring those that called after him as he pushed himself through the front door and out into the fresh afternoon air. He didn't stop until he had clambered into his car and had started the engine. Instead of pulling off straight away he lent his head back on the head rest and listened to the music drifting from his radio, the soft strains of a flute relaxing him and reviving him from his panic. Once he was calm enough to make the drive home he put his car into gear and left town.

Not once did he think of looking back.

Left alone in her sanctuary of peace save for the continuous noise of the little black bleeper in her hand, Robyn smiled. Turning to face the mirror once more she laughed quietly at how easily it had been to remove the Doctor from the room when she had tired of him. He had shown her a weakness that shouldn't have been revealed. It had given her an advantage but not one that she could use again.

Suddenly irritated by the bleeper her countenance changed. Her smile faded into a frown and her eyes held the bleeper firmly, almost willing it to stop its ceaseless commotion. It refused. There was only one option.

Clenching her fist with the bleeper still inside it, she crushed it as if it were a biscuit.


	24. Chapter 24

No one had entered the house since the discoveries. No one had pushed open the rotting wooden gate that swung on squeaky hinges. No one had crunched their way up the gravel path that led to the front door cordoned off by a stretch of yellow tape bearing the words, 'CONDEMNED – DO NOT ENTER', printed in tall thick letters that drew and held the eye as they stood out against their stark background. The tape remained undisturbed since the day it had been placed there. Not even the bitter winter winds or sweating heat of the summer had touched it.

They hadn't dared.

They had found the bodies in the basement, at least ten of them. Each killed in a different way, each with parts of their body missing, many had been drained of their blood. One of the bodies was almost completely devoid of their skin, what remained of their mauled torso was dressed in a nurse's uniform. A badge pinned to the lapel of the bloodied clothing gave a name to a face savaged beyond recognition, 'Ellen'.

Tucked into the corner of this macabre slaughterhouse they had found a make-shift operating theatre, what atrocities had been performed there they didn't yet know. Hours of searching revealed no clues as to the whereabouts of the parts of the bodies lying outstretched on the dusty floor underneath the flickering haze of lights that seemed to stretch on forever into the darkest regions of that room of death.

Had not the smell of the decay of those left to rot upon that cold sea of tile begun to infest the air outside with its putrid matter they never would have known what had happened. They never would have found the body sitting in the chair, eyes wide, mouth agape, silently calling out for help.

It hadn't taken them long to find the basement. Those few unlucky people that had been the first to see what awaited them had all fallen to nervous disorders, even months after the event some were still dependent on help. The darkness hadn't spared them from the cruel visions that seemed to glow against the dark red backdrop on which they lay.

They knew who had committed the gruesome acts, the tableaux of horror showing a disturbed mind beyond recovery but they didn't know who had killed the killer. It hadn't taken long to find out his identity. A card in his jacket pocket named him. His picture upon that crumbled piece of laminated paper confirmed his identity. It was a name they had heard before.

Doctor Dominic Trent.

What sick manifestation had been his goal, they didn't know. There was no telling what he could have been doing down there in his sanctuary of obscenity. The only evidence that could have unlocked a dead man's secrets had been found in a pile of ashes. There was nothing left, someone had gotten there first.

It was that someone that now waded through the darkness of the basement. Still the smell was present in the air but that didn't bother her. Nor did the sight of blood dried into the once white tiles, she had been here before.

She had been reborn here.

It was here she would live, hidden from the light of the sun, concealed from prying eyes, they would never think to look for her here. No one ever came here. Except for those she had made sure would join her. They would remain here, safe from intruders, living in secret.

Soon one of them would join her.

A muffled footstep on the stairs above him forced him to look up. His eyes widened in fear as he saw her standing there, her hands outstretched, her features fixed into a mask of determination to accomplish something nearly impossible. In what looked like slow motion she placed one of her hands on the wall next to her, flattened, her other hand she wrapped around the banister rail, holding on firmly. Her eyes seemed fixed on a point beyond her that he couldn't see. They ignored him as he called to her, asking her what she was doing. No words answered his plea, only action. She lifted one foot slightly in the air. With her eyes still fixed in the same spot she planted it almost gingerly on the step below. As her hands tightened their grip where they had been placed he knew what she was going to do. Calling to her again he tried to gain her attention but again she ignored him. Her ears were as deaf to him as her eyes were blind.

His appeals were useless.

He watched in horror as she began to slowly lower her foot. If she put any weight on it she would fall, it was her weak side. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he bolted towards the foot of the stairs.

He had to stop her.

Even as he ran towards her she didn't see him. She didn't want to. To look at him would be to show him her fear as her foot reached ever downwards. Its progress was slow, as if she were stepping into a pool of mud. It seemed to resist as her toes touched the carpet. More and more of her foot touched down on the step, her heel came to a rest moments after her toes. Two steps down she began to move her other foot to greet the one she had just placed but that was when it went all wrong.

Kit grabbed Robyn just as she fell, the force of her fall sent them sprawling down several steps before he managed to grab hold of the banister. He grunted as he felt his shoulder hit the wall as his body turned, jerking against the sudden stop. Breathing heavily he looked at Robyn. She seemed to be unharmed aside from being shaken by what had happened. Carefully he moved her down a step before slowly standing and lifting her up from the stair and carrying her down to the ground.

When he had sat her and himself on the sofa he broke his silence, "What the hell were you trying to do?! You know you can't walk down the stairs on your own."

"I know." Came the short, defiant reply.

"Then why do it then?"

"I want to do things on my own. I don't want to use the crutch anymore."

"But you need it until we can get you sorted out. If you keep pulling stunts like that you'll hurt yourself. What good is getting around without your crutches if you fall down the stairs and crack your head open? What if I hadn't been there to catch you? What would you have done then?" Kit's voice was harsh.

"We both know the answer to that question. I have one of my own. Would you miss me?"

Kit's eyes narrowed, "What kind of question is that?"

Robyn squirmed against the tightening grip of Kit's hands on her wrists. He was hurting her.

"Let me go!"

"I won't until you tell me what you meant. Why would you ask that question?"

"Let me go!" Robyn repeated louder than before.

Finally she managed to snatch her hands from his grasp. He didn't try to reclaim them. Instead he rose from the sofa and walked out of the house.

A confused Robbie stood in the middle of the stairs, fresh from his shower, wondering what had been happening.


	25. Chapter 25

Flecks of dust glittering golden traced invisible circles in the sunlight shining through the window. They seemed to be dancing to music only they could hear. She listened hard but their song evaded her ears. Her eyes followed them as they weaved effortlessly in their weightless circles, never seeming to tire, never touching the ground. She reached out a hand to touch them, they stirred in the disturbance in the air but they didn't falter. They still continued in their mesmerising flight, twirling between her fingers, running through them like sand. She smiled. It was a smile of contentment, of peace, a smile unlike any other she had smiled that day or the day before. It was warm. The smiles before it had been cold smiles that drove a chill right into the heart of any that had been unfortunate enough to meet them. This smile gave peace to the one that observed it even though they knew it wasn't directed at them, something was beginning to happen that they hadn't expected.

Robbie shifted his attention from Robyn to the front door when he heard it open. Looking over the back of his chair he saw Kit. A slight frown marred his brow when he realised the younger man had been out much longer than he'd realised but the frown of disdain changed to one of anxiety when he realised that this impromptu return hadn't been noticed much less acknowledged by the person it should have meant the most to. This seemed to be a feeling shared when he looked again at Kit who had also noticed the continuing oddness of Robyn's behaviour.

Standing up, Robbie whispered to his friend that they needed to talk. Kit nodded his agreement before walking into the kitchen.

"How's she been?" Kit asked when Robbie had joined him in the kitchen.

Robbie shrugged, "She's not been much better. I wouldn't say there's been much change either way, at least she's occupied herself with something."

"Yeah, she's not doing much harm to herself there at the moment. I'm worried about her though, Robbie. Something's happened to her and I don't know what it is. I daren't ask her in case she throws me out again. Lord knows what she did to Doc Malone to make him leave like that, what if she does the same to me?"

"I don't know. I tried talking to her but she's not listened to a word I've said. It's like I'm invisible to her, like I don't mean anything. She hates me."

Kit shook his head and walked over to Robbie. His face was filled with sympathy as he wrapped his arms around his older friend. He could see that the change in Robyn was hurting him badly, worse than it was hurting himself. Something had to be done. He had to get to the bottom of what had made Robyn change so rapidly. Whatever he was going to do he knew had to be done quickly, the longer he delayed the worse things could get and the more his friend would be hurt.

Loosening his grip on him he led Robbie to the back door.

"Go out for a walk, clear your head. I'll be alright here. Take your time." Kit's voice was gentle, soothing.

Robbie nodded, "Thanks. I think that's what I need right now. It seems to have worked for you."

Kit smiled and opened the door for Robbie who passed through almost reluctantly. He looked back into the house before leaving the garden and walking out through the town. Kit watched him go before closing the door. With Robbie gone he had more of a chance to speak to Robyn, to say things that he couldn't say with him there. He had questions to ask, the answers to which he knew he wouldn't like but he had to give voice to his feelings.

Walking back into the living room he saw that Robyn had given over her wonderment at the dust floating about them in the air. The look in her eyes as they locked on to his told him that she knew what he was thinking. She was waiting for him to make the first move, to speak the words he wanted her to hear. He'd not expected this. Her seeming readiness to acquiesce to his desire to speak to him didn't make sense. Deep down in the pit of his stomach he knew that he would face some kind of resistance along the way; that she wouldn't make his search for the truth easy but he was prepared. He would succeed in finding out what had happened to her to make her act so strangely. He loved her and he wanted to make her better.

He sat down in Robbie's usual seat, never for a moment allowing his eyes to wander. To break eye contact would be to give her an edge, to show that he was anxious about confronting her. He knew he had to be strong, only by being strong could he pass on some of that strength to her.

When he felt ready he broke the iron clad silence.

"What did he say to you?"

Robyn cocked her head, "Who?"

"You know who. The guy you punched yesterday morning."

"He didn't say anything. Or if he did I wasn't listening."

"Fair enough. Are you going to tell me what happened that night?"

"Should I?"

The coyness of Robyn's answers lit a spark inside Kit but he held his temper, "Look, something happened to you. Something made you leave that car," He paused as something struck him out of the blue, "Or someone."

Robyn didn't answer.

"What did she say to you, Robyn?" Kit continued knowing he'd hit close to the mark, "What did she do to you? Talk to me, tell me what it was and don't tell me it was nothing because you didn't wake up one morning and decide to act like this. I know she said something to you and I want you to tell me what it was."

"You're asking the wrong person."

"What's that supposed to mean? Who else would know what she said to you?"

Instead of telling Kit, Robyn indicated that he help her up. Brimming with confusion he complied, getting out of his chair he walked towards her. When he had reached her she held out one of her hands. He took it and pulled her up. It was the only assistance she would accept from him, she refused his help as she limped dangerously over to the window. He didn't know where her crutch was but she had obviously continued to refuse to use it.

He stood dumb where he had stopped until she called him back to the present. Shaking away his confusion he followed suit and stood next to her as she peered out the window. He didn't know what he was supposed to see, or who. No matter how much he thought about it his mind still questioned what he was supposed to be seeing outside. It wasn't until she pointed to something on the horizon that he understood and his anger flared.

Floating in the azure blue sky above them was his answer.


	26. Chapter 26

Before anyone could stop him he was through the hatch. His eyes searched for the one he had come to speak to. They found their target. Fuelled by anger his thoughts rested on only one thing. Several long strides brought him within arm's reach of the man he had loved, the man he had looked up to. The man that had destroyed everything they had had. With white knuckled fists he pushed him towards the wall ahead of him. He stood so close their noses were almost touching, their breath mingling in its ragged exhalations. Moments passed without movement. It seemed like a spell had been cast upon them, fixing them like stone in the position they had chosen.

That spell was broken when their eyes met.

Eyes of fire blazed into eyes of ice that remained orbs of frost. A fire matching that projected from that unwavering gaze burned within his belly, threatening to consume him as he struggled to hold it at bay. Completely losing his temper would get him nowhere, it would make it harder to attain the answers he sought. Besides, he wasn't alone with the man staring back at him with eyes that refused to melt beneath his intense observation, he had allies, people that would try to defend him, one of which had threatened to remove him if he allowed himself to get out of hand. He couldn't afford to have that happen, if it did his chances of finding out what he wanted to know would be wiped out. Taking in deep breaths he tried to still the inferno within him, so far it was working but he wasn't sure how long it would be before the moment when he could control it no longer. He still had to talk, he still had to hear what answers were made to his questions, his control would be most needed then, it would be when he was at his weakest.

They were still standing close when the silence was broken.

"You've talked with Robyn haven't you?" Sportacus spoke first, his tone level, un-provoking.

Kit nodded, "I did, a little. She seems to think that you know something I don't, something that made her punch you yesterday morning. What was it?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me, Sportacus. You're rubbish at it. It's not in your nature to lie." Kit paused considering something, "Or maybe it is. You lied to Robyn for twenty one years, and Robbie, and me, and everyone else in this town. I suppose you've also lied to mummy and daddy."

Sportacus' colour faded slightly, "Kit, don't do this."

"Do what? You have lied to them, haven't you? Well someone has to tell them the truth! Who is it going to be, Sportacus, you or me?"

"What is he talking about, son?" Nine interjected stepping forward.

Trapped in a corner he couldn't see a way out of, Sportacus' brain began to work overtime. He knew what Kit was doing. He couldn't lie anymore. If he didn't tell the truth he knew that it would be told for him. His time was running out. As bad as things would be when he spoke they would be worse if the words didn't leave his lips.

"Mum, dad, I…" Sportacus trailed off, he couldn't do it.

Something stirred behind her. She was no longer alone in the room. Without turning around she reached out with her senses, feeling whoever had joined her, trying to find out who they were. It was someone she hadn't been expecting. They repulsed her. She looked over her shoulder at the face she knew to be nothing more than a mask, a decoy to trick people into thinking that they were someone normal, someone human. Only she could see beyond it. Only she knew who they really were.

"It's been a long time, Lassie." The tones stroked her ears in their broad accent.

Her answer was simple, "It has. I believe the last time we spoke we were in the cabin. You said something about having me protected but I can't see that that's happened. It's quite ironic really."

"What is?"

"You and the other little minions the Judges have running around still don't seem to have found Lily and yet it takes me no time or effort at all. And again instead of trying to look for her you waste your time bugging me. What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

"I'm sure you know the answer already. Why do you think the attempts on your life from us have stopped?"

Robyn smiled at the window, "You're right. I thought it had been quiet lately. You're also right about my knowing what's going on. You've stopped trying to find Lily and trying to kill me because you hope that we'll do it for you. You're stuck, you can't kill her and you can't kill me but I know that you don't like playing the waiting game. That's why you're here."

"You're very sharp, Lassie. You always have been. I'm sure you've realised your powers are growing, you can read me as easily as anyone else."

"It frightens you. There are some things you can still hide but soon that door you have them locked behind will open. Soon I'll surpass you. Even now I can detect something within you, something you've been trying to keep from me. You killed Dominic didn't you? He had to be silenced. I bet it didn't take much in the way of effort, he was dying anyway. A nice and easy target lined up for you. Something even you couldn't have gotten wrong."

Michael's expression darkened. He was rapidly running out of patience. More than once he had been insulted by a woman he loathed as much as she loathed him. If he had been given the slightest opportunity he would have made sure she never spoke ill of him or his brethren again but if she was to suddenly die or disappear questions would be asked and too much attraction would be aroused. He couldn't be sure that no one had seen him enter the house, there were too many eyes. If anyone had seen him they would know he was the last person to see her and there would be no denying it.

He was trapped and he knew that she knew it. He could see it in her eyes. There was a raw desire to push him beyond his limits, to make him do what he desired. He could see it in the way she walked towards him. Her steps were slow, calculated. He knew she had a mobility problem but her movements were deliberate.

Instead of coming to a stop in front of him like he had expected her to, she passed by him. This action confused him slightly. He turned himself around to see what she was doing.

He regretted it.

No one had moved in the airship since he had fallen silent. He had wanted to speak but his strength had failed him. It was a step even he hadn't been able to take. He could feel the eyes that still held his press him to break his silence, to confess all that he had done. Their pressure was beginning to work. He could feel himself becoming ready to try again, to break his silence of twenty one years. His lips parted, his eyes found his parents, words began to form on the tip of his tongue. He was going to tell them.

His words were silenced by his crystal flaring into life. His father's did the same. Both men knew that something was happening in the world below. Forgetting Kit, Sportacus surged forward. Hurtling past his father he threw himself down the ladder. Landing squarely on his feet he ran at full speed towards a house he knew that he wouldn't be welcome to but he didn't care, he had to stop whatever was happening.

He was at the front door in no time and he threw it open. Taking only a few seconds he assessed any possible danger to himself from entering the house, he could see none. Forcing himself across the threshold he used his eyes to scan every inch of the room. They fell upon something he hadn't expected to see, not there.

Filled with a deep sense of foreboding he edged towards it. It seemed so innocent just lying there but he knew it shouldn't have been there, poking out from behind the coffee table. He didn't want to walk any closer but he couldn't stop himself. It was if he were on a conveyor belt, on a one way journey he couldn't stop. His head craned itself to see what he was afraid of. He couldn't stop his eyes from looking upon what lay on the floor.

As if struck by a blow he recoiled back from the coffee table, his hand to his mouth as he swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in his throat. He staggered across the room until he came into contact with something that stopped him. Keeping his eyes tight shut he leant his cheek against the cool surface of the wall. He struggled to breathe, his lungs fought to obtain all of the air that he needed. It was a fight that succeeded in victory. He opened his eyes. A sound had reached his ears that he hadn't heard before. Following the sound he saw Robyn sitting in a corner, she was trembling violently. He could see the fear in her eyes as she spoke in tones he struggled to hear.

"Here comes the candle to light you to bed. Here comes the chopper to chop off your head."

It was then that he realised there was someone behind him.


	27. Chapter 27

His heart shuddered to a halt as the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. He could feel warm breath playing upon them, tickling them with every exhalation of air. Something cold brushed his throat. It felt like metal. Paralysed by fear he couldn't move. He had never felt so afraid. A new terror seized him as he felt the metal move. It seemed to float in front of his eyes as if suspended on an invisible wire. The instrument of his death was before him. He could see drops of blood slide effortlessly down its shining surface. His eyes followed the drops as they winded a journey down an imaginary path. They were descending a silver mountain, a knife the size of a machete, a weapon he knew had been used to kill the person lying on the floor beyond him, a body without a head, the reflection of the head silhouetted in the blade, shining in the eyes of his captor.

His eyes slid from the blade to the floor, to the corner. He could see the lifeless eyes staring at him, tilted upwards, praying for mercy, begging for forgiveness, trying to see something above them, a shadow stretching across the ceiling in the fading light of the day. They had seen it. They had looked up, wondering, never thinking that that shadow might swoop down and take their life as quickly as they could draw breath. He could see the confusion still shining in those dead eyes, a question answered with death, an answer never to fall upon the mind of the one who had asked it, a permanent silence filling the void that had once been a mind.

They would think no more.

They would never hear the whimpers of the girl they had been left in front of. Her clothes stained with splashes of the ruby liquid spattering the floor. She must have been close, frighteningly close when death had forced life from its body. He couldn't imagine how close it could have been, it was too terrible to think of. More terrible than the thought that his life might soon come to an end. He could see the blade slowly moving downwards, back to its original position. Time seemed to stand still as its tip pierced his neck. Its ice cold surface seemed red hot as it rested in one place, unmoving.

He grimaced against the pain, showing weakness would make things worse. It was something he had learnt a long time ago, a time when Lily had attacked him, one of her more ferocious attacks. Every sign he gave that she had hurt him drove her on, her strikes becoming more frenzied, she was feeding off his pain, enjoying it. The more she hurt him the more he had struggled to hide his pain, it wasn't until he had lost consciousness that she had left him alone. It had seemed like an eternity before he'd been able to leave the spot he had fallen. His parents had found him sitting on the floor of his bedroom hours later. Lily had been nowhere to be seen, she had never come back home.

The tip of the blade being pressed deeper into his throat wakened him to the present, his gritted teeth ground together as he stifled any sound that might give away his pain. It seemed that that had been enough to show his discomfort, the blade was pressed deeper still. This time he couldn't stop it. His lungs drew in a sharp intake of breath.

He could feel his attacker smile against his neck at his display of pain. The blade withdrew a little, its journey forcing a trickle of blood to the surface. It felt hot against the cold surface of the metal. He remained still as the blade was pulled out a little more, slowly, carefully. Each inch that was released allowed more blood to seep downwards, tickling him as it crawled down his neck. It was almost free, he could feel it. Finally its point had left his throat but something told him that it wasn't over, that there was more to come. It had only been the first stage, a test, he knew that now. His fear returned, fear of the unknown, fear of what might happen.

It was justified, he soon found out.

That glove encased hand rose, its bloodied tool of death stood proud against the remaining light shining through the window. Its surface seemed to glow in anticipation of dispelling its next victim. He looked at it, his eyes wide. Eyes shone back at him from the silver surface, they were his eyes. He could see the fear he felt written on every line of his face. The trickle of blood stood out like a scar against his pale flesh.

His eyes sliced along the blade. It revealed his attacker, a face grotesque in its reality. A smile thin, twisted, gave light to the image that stared back at him. There was something about that face. It had a resemblance to one he had seen before. Every fibre in his body recoiled in shock, it couldn't be true. Hidden behind a veil of hair that obscured the visage peering at him he could see eyes that rivalled his own in colour. There was a hardness to them that darkened them beyond his perception. Something shone in them beyond that, running deeper than any colour, burning into his soul as he stared at them.

Evil.

It was there. Plainer than any other emotion he could detect. In that evil he could see no mercy. He could see a killer, a killer who felt nothing towards those he had felled in the prime of their lives, a killer who would take his life without a thought. Only in another pair of eyes had he seen such a depth of malevolence.

Those eyes were cut off from his vision. The hand had drawn the blade back. Its surface arched, its flat sides facing away from him. He could see its brutal edge. The arm was outstretched, ready to sweep forwards with its shining instrument. His head would join that which lay on the floor in front of him. His eyes would look upon his daughter, their light gone forever.

It seemed the time had come to meet his fate. He watched as the arm was pulled back still further, its muscles primed for its fast motion. As it began to move towards him he turned he closed his eyes, he couldn't watch it reach him. He held his breath, waiting. Against his cheek he could feel the rush of air as the arm flew towards him, its weapon ready to strike. Soon it would slice through his throat, cleaving flesh from bone. He was ready for the pain.

But it didn't come. He waited but nothing came.

He could feel his heart beating in his chest, its rhythm steady. He was alive. Opening his eyes slowly he assessed the situation. He was lying on the floor. Half of his face was buried in the soft carpet. Pushing himself up into a sitting position he looked all around him. Without warning he remembered what had happened. He remembered everything; the body, the head, his attacker and Robyn.

His eyes darted from one side of the room to the other. He was alone. Alone except for the body hidden behind the coffee table and the head that continued to stare wordlessly at him from the floor. He looked back at it, wondering who it had once belonged to, wondering if they had felt anything at the point of their death. He would never know. Neither would they.

His mind returned to his daughter. She wasn't in the corner where he had last seen her. Panic seized him when he thought that she might have suffered the same fate as the man whose head he had been considering.

Springing onto his feet he ran into the kitchen. There was no one there. All he could see was his attacker's escape route, the door had been left wide open. Cautiously he moved over to it, he didn't know how long he had been unconscious. If it had been mere minutes there was a danger that his attacker was still close, waiting for another opportunity to attack. He reached the door and closed it, his fingers fumbled to find the key to lock it. Slight relief filled him when he heard the bolt snap into place.

Leaving the kitchen he moved upstairs. All was silent as he reached the top. None of the doors were open, each was shut against the growing darkness in the hallway. He headed straight for his daughter's bedroom, she had to be there. Carefully he pushed open the door, he was greeted by more darkness.

His fingers searched along the wall, looking for the light switch. They found it. Before he could change his mind he flicked it on, light flooded the room, stinging his eyes. He couldn't resist the urge to close them firmly, the light was too bright. Moments passed before he slowly began to open them, just to slits at first and then completely. With his eyes adjusted to the light he looked around.

Robyn was lying on the bed, her face buried in the pillows. He began to walk slowly towards her not yet knowing if she was alive or dead. As he drew closer he heard a soft sound, almost a moan, from somewhere in the room. It was close. His eyes dropped to the floor, scanning. They saw something poking out from underneath Robyn's bed, it was a shoe.

Quickly Sportacus knelt down. Lifting up the sheet that covered the underside of the bed he saw someone stuffed underneath. He carefully pulled at the foot held within the shoe to release the person. Several tugs drew them into the room, he looked at the face contorted in pain, the bruise covering most of the forehead. He recognised the man.

It was Michael.

He was about to try and bring Michael round when he heard the front door open below. The sound of footsteps clad in heavy shoes sounded on the stairs. Voices echoed in the hallway before several men spilled into the room. All of them were armed, all of them were ready to defend themselves against any possible attack. They looked at him and he looked at them, wondering what they were going to do. He was about to speak when someone beat him to it. The men stood down, sheathing their weapons and moving themselves to stand either side of the door.

Another man entered the room, his uniform differed from that of the others. A smile touched his lips as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

"Sportacus, how nice to find you alive." The man said sounding genuinely pleased.

Sportacus frowned, "Who are you?"

"Elias. I'm one of the heads of the Network. You're lucky to be alive although I can see you're injured. One of my men will take care of your wounds, the others will move your friends to alternative accomodation while we deal with the mess downstairs."

"Do you know who it was that attacked me?"

Elias nodded, "That's why we're calling a town meeting. There's something all of you need to know."


	28. Chapter 28

Black Land Rovers made their way into the town. One after the other they came from every direction, filling every road. Those watching this strange occurrence counted four cars in each line from all three roads into town. They seemed to drive in formation as they neared the centre of town, circling it like vultures. Several cars stopped while the others continued in their patterns, spiralling outwards, stopping in relays. Everything seemed to pause when they had all stopped. Nothing seemed to move in the town as each one turned off its engine. Silence fell where the roar of engines had ceased. Not even the little Terrier lying underneath a bush staring at the cars in wonder seemed to want to disturb it. He remained still even as the doors of the cars began to open slowly, completely synchronised in their timing. There seemed to be a pause again when all four doors of every vehicle had been opened.

It was there that the slowness of their movements ended.

Four men spilled out from each car. Each man wore a uniform. Each man was carrying a weapon. Those men on the outermost reaches of town seemed to spread themselves out, forming a boundary, surrounding that area. Those in the middle reaches did the same. They seemed to create a formidable wall that ran all the way around the town, blocking anything that dared cross its path.

Of the sixteen men left came the greatest task. They paired themselves off with a precision that seemed to have been pre planned. Each pair knew what they had to do, those watching could tell that. Five pairs ran to every house in town, the air filled with the sound of booted footfalls and the hammering of gloved fists on doors. Doors opened and questions were asked by those disturbed from their rest and activities but no words from the men were spoken except a request that they be followed to the Town Hall where a meeting was soon to take place. No one refused.

They didn't feel like they had a choice.

The three remaining pairs climbed the ladders of the three airships filling the sky above the town with a startling speed that showed strength and fitness possessed only of heroes.

But these weren't heroes, none of them were. The organisation with which they carried out their tasks was almost military in its precision, in the way they dressed and moved. They were something else. Everyone pulled from their houses knew that they would soon find out.

One person from each pair entered each airship, the remaining man stayed on the ladder. Only seconds passed before they climbed down again, allowing those leaving the airships to make their way down to the ground. There seemed to be no objection. When each airship was cleared the second person of the pair climbed down the ladder and joined their partner on the ground. Then they too led the people they had come to fetch to the Town Hall.

When everyone had been gathered in the Town Hall the pairs separated, sixteen men with a new task to accomplish. Ten surrounded the Town Hall. Four more patrolled the town and checked in with the team leaders of the two groups of sixteen men holding down the town. Two men were left to search around to pick up anyone that may have been missed, people that may not have been in their houses. They split up, one taking one side of town the other heading for the other side.

While he was searching, one of the men heard a rustling sound nearby. He headed towards it, pausing only to radio his companion to tell him what he was doing. Creeping slowly he used his eyes to sweep everything in his line of sight. It was then that he saw it. Dropping down onto all fours he crawled towards the bush. He smiled when he saw the shining, wet nose sniffing the air and the tongue hanging out at the side of the mouth as the dog panted. Holding out a hand he spoke softly to the dog, it stuck its head out from under the bush and offered him a paw. Another smile tweaked the corner of his mouth as he took the paw and shook it. When the paw was dropped he reached into the bush and gently lifted the dog from underneath it, the dog didn't resist. He looked over the animal he knew to be someone's pet, it was healthy, and it had been well fed and looked to be very well looked after. Everything looked to be where it should be except for something that was missing. He blinked in surprise when he saw it to be a leg. Looking closely he could tell it hadn't always been that way but it was an old wound. Shaking off his surprise he carried the dog with him as he continued his search of his sector.

With everything secured and everyone in one place those men surrounding the perimeter of the town returned to their cars. Every engine was started and they drove away to a location they had predetermined as their base. It was there that they would stay until they were called back again. Meanwhile, the men surrounding the Town Hall began to patrol the town. They were searching for someone they hoped they wouldn't find.

No one in the Town Hall knew what was going on, no one except for the small group of men standing behind the pair of desks that normally served the purposes of the people that worked there. Those two people were just as in the dark as the people they lived with. One of them didn't want it to stay that way.

Clearing his throat, the Mayor walked towards the man he thought to be the leader in all of this. His approach was not ignored.

"Mr Mayor," The man began extending a hand, "My name is Elias. At the moment you don't need to know who we are or what we do, it's why we're here that you should concern yourself with at the moment."

The Mayor took the hand and shook it, "Why are you here?"

"We believe that someone has come to town that poses everyone great danger. I'm sure you're aware of the situation that occurred in Robbie's house. The man found dead was one my men. I had him posted here on Robyn's return from Toronto. His job was to keep an eye on things."

"To spy on us." Stingy jumped in.

Elias ignored her comment, "I posted him here for the safety of the town but mainly for Robyn."

Kit nodded, "Because of Cain. Because of what you found out in Toronto."

Several people in the room exchanged looks of surprise. As far as they had known Cain had died several years ago. None of them knew what he had been doing in Toronto.

"Yes," Elias replied, "Whoever removed his head sent out a very clear warning. I received intelligence from one of my teams out there last week that his head had been found in a fridge in the very same nightclub that you and Robyn had been held up in. The person responsible for placing his head there had left him with a note. We believe that this person is here."

"Do you know who he is?" Someone in the room asked.

"We don't know much about him. All we know for certain is that he has a penchant for taking people's heads off. He's strong, he knows what he's doing and he's serious about it. We're not sure if he knew Cain or whether he did anything with him. There has to be some connection somewhere but at this moment we don't know what that is."

"Perhaps I can explain."

Everyone turned around slowly at the sound of the voice they would never forget. It was a voice they had always hoped they would never hear again, a voice that sent a jolt of fear through all of them. They looked upon the owner of that voice in disbelief and wide eyed shock.

Lily smiled, "Don't all look so surprised. Robbie came back from the dead, why couldn't I?"

No one answered that question.

"I see that you weren't told about me being back. I've been back as long as Robbie. That explosion pulled both of us back, out of the two of us I was the worst for wear but that's what Hell does to you. You've been a very naughty girl, Robyn. I thought you would have told your friends, your family, but you didn't. You lied to them."

Everyone looked at Robyn, a mix of emotions upon their faces. They were all upset but none more so than Robbie.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked eyes brimming with tears.

"Come now, Robbie. It's like mother like daughter. That's not the only thing she hasn't told you." Lily's voice cut through the air like a knife.

"Lily," Kit warned, "Not here."

"And why not? Everyone's here. Everyone has a right to know what's going on. Why lie to them anymore? Why don't we let the one responsible do the talking?" Lily turned to Sportacus, "Brother, why don't you tell them what's been going on? Tell them what they have a right to know. Tell them your dirty little secret."

Sportacus' jaw was set. He wouldn't talk.

"If you won't tell them I will. Is that you want? Do you want me to tell them what you've been hiding from them all these years, your dirty little secret? I'm giving you a choice, Sportacus. Don't throw it away."

"Lily, I'm warning you." Kit jumped in again, his voice threatening.

"And what could you possibly do?" Lily responded her glare at full power, "You can't stop this. You're just as involved as anyone of us three. I'm tired of this. What's it going to be, Sportacus? You or me?"

Sportacus remained frozen, he was in the position he had most feared. There was no way out.

Lily's same old smile returned, "Very well then. Sportacus is Robyn's father."

Tremors of surprise ran through the group. No one had expected this. No one had ever dreamed that anything like this could have happened. Their hero had lied to them, betrayed them. Many turned their eyes to him, questioning him with gazes saddened by the truth.

Nine was the first to speak. His words cut Sportacus like a knife. "I always knew something had to have happened between you. Cain was your son too, wasn't he? You did it not once but twice. You lied to me, me and your mother. I'm ashamed of you." He turned to Lily, "And you, I never thought I would lay eyes on you again."

"And I hoped you'd be long dead and buried by now but life is full of disappointments isn't it? There's one shred of good news in all of this. There's someone I'd like you all to meet."

Lily walked over to the door of the Town Hall. She pulled it open and someone entered. This someone sent waves of anxiety through everyone gathered. They all knew this was the person they were to be protected from.

"This is Morgan. Say hello, Morgan."

Morgan glanced over the crowd with icy blue eyes that burned them all. He turned them upon a man he had met once before, a man that had been on the tip of death, a man that he had shown mercy to. A man he knew by the name, Sportacus.

"Hello, father." Morgan greeted with the slightest hint of a smile.

"Father?!" Kit exclaimed standing up, "How many kids do you have?"

Lily smiled once more, "Morgan is Robyn's twin. He's what I've been holding back all these years. Isn't he splendid? He'll destroy all of you, eventually, but for now I think we've done enough. Come along, Morgan, it's time to go home."

Turning away from his father, Morgan followed obediently. As they disappeared into the darkness they could hear Lily's laughter echoing long into the night.

She had won a powerful victory. All she had to do now was wait for her plans to fall into place all by themselves, something she knew wouldn't take long.


End file.
